A Confession

"I dare no longer stay!"

Forgive me, Friar Lawrence,

You're not the well-intentioned,

vacillating failure

I've always taught,

A weak man leaving Juliet in the tomb to die.

Like you, I would have stayed through the night

But I didn't.

"Will he survive?"  I asked the ER doctor on the evening shift,

Her military about-face gave me hope.

"I don't know."

George turned to me from his gurney,

Resolute, stubborn.

This was his own journey;

No tears need christen it.

He knew its end.

Finally, I looked at my watch.

"Well,

I've got to get home, walk the dog,

And get ready for tomorrow."

Friar Lawrence,

My exit wasn't scripted.

Why didn't I know

He'd die the next day?

before the vernal equinox.

(c)Christy Lumm               2008

published in Skipping Stones, Vol VI