Denise Duhamel
Sweet Day
- July 8, 2021
I notice my mom’s feet hang over the side of the bed,
an impossible move for her to make on her own.
She can no longer stand or even hold herself up to sit.
A CNA tells me my mother always got out of that side
of the bed when she still used her walker, when later
she slid into her wheelchair. The CNA shrugs—she’s seen
stranger things. Mom is docile today—quick to smile
and sleepy. She lets me give her cranberry juice
from her sippy cup. She lets me hold her hand again.
A nurse tells my sister to get enough sleep and remember
to eat. Cheryl, the receptionist in the lobby, says to me
I know you are exhausted, but one day
you’ll remember these days as the sweet days.
Denise Duhamel’s most recent books of poetry are Second Story (Pittsburgh, 2021) and Scald (2017). Blowout (2013) was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. A recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, she is a distinguished university professor in the MFA program at Florida International University in Miami.
Return to January 2023 Edition
- July 8, 2021
I notice my mom’s feet hang over the side of the bed,
an impossible move for her to make on her own.
She can no longer stand or even hold herself up to sit.
A CNA tells me my mother always got out of that side
of the bed when she still used her walker, when later
she slid into her wheelchair. The CNA shrugs—she’s seen
stranger things. Mom is docile today—quick to smile
and sleepy. She lets me give her cranberry juice
from her sippy cup. She lets me hold her hand again.
A nurse tells my sister to get enough sleep and remember
to eat. Cheryl, the receptionist in the lobby, says to me
I know you are exhausted, but one day
you’ll remember these days as the sweet days.
Denise Duhamel’s most recent books of poetry are Second Story (Pittsburgh, 2021) and Scald (2017). Blowout (2013) was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. A recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, she is a distinguished university professor in the MFA program at Florida International University in Miami.
Return to January 2023 Edition