30POEMS IN 30DAYS

1. poem on getting/sending a message
(phone call)

For my Cousin on the Scottish Side

It was the day
I came home
It was the day
I was glad to be home
To be with family
It was the day
Your husband rang
And you didn't call
So I knew as soon as
He said his name
I knew it was the day
You took as it came
It was the day
I came home
With you on my mind
With a plan
For visiting, my mother
Your aunt, and you
Together. It was the day
Six weeks after you said
It was best to take
One day at a time
No use dwelling on
Anything else ...
And now the day had come.
We drove to the Hospital.
Seeing you no longer
"You", I understood
"the best-laid plans
gang aft aglay."*
It was that day.


(*from a poem by Robert Burns)