What'd I Do? <br />Editors don't want anything experimental... <br />What'd I do, comes my mother's voice <br />What did I do? <br />Keep it mainstream. Rhyme is OK. <br />Say it clearly... <br /> <br />Ring. Hello. <br />Mom is in the hospital. Pneumonia. <br />The way you handle time is crucial. <br />Time passes. Mom heals. Then, <br />Ring. Mom is in the ICU. She fell. <br />In the hospital? <br />An attendant dropped her at night. <br />She has a broken hip. <br />She was to go home tomorrow. Now they are going to operate. <br /> <br />Drive. Drive. The endless empty road to Savannah. <br />The way you handle space and spacing... crucial. <br />The ICU. <br />'Another day in paradise.' <br />First words Mom says when they remove the breathing tube. <br />'What'd I do? ' <br />Each day, every day, the same sentences repeated. <br />Then, 'Sue the phukkers.' <br />Avoid obscenity if you want to get published. Good, rich diction. <br /> <br />We returned. <br />Mom stayed in the hospital a week until they hauled her to a nursing home, <br />Hip not healed, yelling obscenities, wanting to go home. <br />Keep it short and sweet. <br />Ring. <br />Mom is dead. <br />What? Dead. Friday. Cardiac <br />Arrest.<br /><br />Jack E Miller<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/what-d-i-do/
