A Faraway Place
For Shannon
By
Jennifer Angelina Petro
She nods politely, smiling dutiful smiles at the nurses
As she walks outside into the yard where patients are permitted
To take in some silent sun;
She finds the bench she thinks is her favorite—
The one nearest the gate post; she sits, closes her eyes,
Inhales deeply until she grows still as a summer afternoon;
Inside she moves from garden to infinite garden, like
A hummingbird—her wings invisible in the honeysuckle atmosphere,
Her memories lifting, one by one, like so many pink petals
From the weeping cherry.
Where does the hummingbird go after it startles from the trumpet flower,
And vanishes, like retreating emerald lightning,
Back into the sky?
There are difficult questions and difficult answers, except here—
For when she lifts from her body, she will rise, dancing
In the weeping cherry petals letting go into the sun,
And one by one, her memories will return, like so many lost children,
And she will stand among them, arms open, welcoming them home.