by Judith Bruder
When I was in the hospital
(she said)
with this last illness ---
and I was delirious ---
(she said)
people were kind.
They were very kind. You see those flowers?
Yellow flowers, over there?
My neighbor sent them; those are only part of what he sent,
(she said)
and there were many more,
so many flowers.
This is a fragment. Download Bruder Lady Reflects.
"The poem dates from 1985 and almost wrote itself," Ms. Bruder tells us. "I simply transcribed and shaped an experience recounted to me by my friend, an extraordinary lady, now long gone. She was Irish, which perhaps explains its everyday poetry."
Author Bio: Judith Bruder is a free-lance philosopher whose published works include a novel, a memoir, a translation from the French, and numerous articles and short stories. She trained in addictions counseling and chaplaincy, and worked for eight years in Campus Ministry at Fordham at Lincoln Center.
J.B. has recently emerged in the Blogosphere with: Touch 2 Touch and A View From the Woods.