POEM: She Left the Way She Wanted to

My mother battled heart disease for her entire life.

It was the slow killer in our family.

She always knew how dangerous the killer was,

And she wanted a peaceful way out of it.

She wanted to be the first one to go.

She once told my father,

If you go first and leave me alone, I will never forgive you.

I knew what she meant.

When her time came,

Although too soon,

It was peaceful and painless.

Just the way she wanted it.

My family was devastated,

My sister inconsolable.

And I told her,

Remember that she left the way she wanted to.

The first one to go, painlessly.

Soon after her departure,

My mother came to me in my dreams.

The next day I told my sister,

I dreamed about Mom last night.

You did? Everybody is dreaming about her, only I don’t dream about her.

My daughter did. You did. But I didn’t.

I just miss her so much.

Don’t worry, just be patient. She will come to you.

And she did.

She came to each of us,

The ones who stayed on this side.

She is now waiting for her love to join her on the other side.

~~~~~~~~~~

From my book of poetry Sunset in Toronto, page 90.