Love Duet
Requiem to Lynnette, after 70 years of devotion
 
 she sat straight up
in the wooden chair
a kitten in her lap
staring out at the room
her eyes couldn't focus
she couldn't see them
but she wasn't nervous
her mind could see clear
she knew these people
she loved them all
as they had her
far back as memory
 
faded old clothes
crumpled not dirty
hair neatly uncombed
teeth chipped or missing
skin dry and discolored
health had left her
as had some friends
 
she sat singing a song
her voice softly shaking
wrong words came out
but no stumbling pause
her lips kept moving
a little bit crooked
misshapen by illness
but only skin deep
in the crowded church
she wasn't performing
no, not really
no need for tension
no concern with perfection
no worry to accomplish
no fear of failure
no need to be nervous
she was just singing
to people she loved
 
the light in her eyes
sang louder than voice
she was singing to them
the immense pleasure
of speaking thoughts
her lips couldn't say
 
a faint French accent
lingered like life
and told its story
of dreams coming true
 
she sat straight and sang
a monthly duty fulfilled
800 times or more
but soon to be ending
gently stroking her kitten
it looked up, it purred
 
 
This one just came to me in a dream on July 31, 2004. Of course it had to be adapted for reality, but I can still see the woman singing in my dream, her teeth chipped, a light in her eyes as she repeated a line, not even knowing it, and continued her song, "You must be polite. You must be polite."
While writing it down, it occurred to me that it might be Lynnette, singing in the church, many years from now. Still saying thank you for what she'd been given, as we all should.

Her stories are my gift to you

 

Tidbit of knowledge: It's interesting that with damage to the language center of the brain (expressive aphasia), a person may not be able to speak a sentence, but may still be able to sing a song they know.

© Copyright Douglas Young, 2004

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