Visionary underneath his pain, <br />he lies there, staring blankly at my mother, <br />cancer spread from his liver to his brain. <br />She tries to tell him all the latest news, <br />mentions I’m in flight, and that my brother <br />and sisters are beside his bed. They smother <br />him with their grief. My brother offers booze. <br />But papa calls out to his long dead father, <br />points to his own bare feet with his cane, <br />and asks them to take off his heavy shoes.<br /><br />Leo Yankevich<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/papa-s-dying/
