‘I Just Want to See the Sky’

When Mother and I decided to co-author a book together, we were looking for a crack in the isolating wall of COVID—something fun we might do together. We had no idea we would be starting a conversation with so many people about how we might help each other through the difficult years of aging. Like a poem, the book is taking unexpected turns as it creates a life of its own. 

‘I Just Want to See the Sky’

Although it is raining, I open the door
and step into the chilly air of April
to feel the closeness of a sky 
heavy with spring’s moisture.

Oblivious to the rain, I am lost 
in a downpour of emotions,
my face turned upward by an email
from a woman writing about her mother

who, now confined to a wheel chair, 
sees only the stark white of a ceiling 
as she repeats her wish on every call
to a daughter living so many miles away.