joy of the evening

 gifts and laughter with loved daughters

over scrumptious supper of crab louis

testing out a grabber with magnetic

properties and using its bite-and-open

feature to simulate applause

to greater laughter as we work

a crossword puzzle together

in bonded caring and mutual support

i am the luckiest person

i’ve ever known

transient

huge, fluffed flakes in a transient blizzard

flung against the windshield

of my daughter’s car as she gave me her

warm vest to take me home from the hospital

after staying with me for hours when

when i could not find the words to speak

meteorologists had promised again and again

for weeks, but still the snow did not lie or

stay, only promise, threaten and show before

leaving with a taste of disaster to be heeded