The final moment

He didn’t want her there, much less hold his hand.
They told her it was the state of his condition, but
she knew they didn’t understand.
She wasn’t apart of this, why change it now.
Her heart was shattering with every tear that fell
from inside the room.
As she stepped on the elevator she gave one last look.
She knew the minute she stepped out in the cold of the night
he’d taken his final breath.
But why and sorry wouldn’t mean anything now.
She had told her, I want you to have this and tucked the
envelope in her bag as they talked in the hall.
As she looked out the airplane window in the darkness of the night,
it would be a long flight home, but now she would have comfort.
His mom had given her a snapshot of memories, along with the
dog tags that had rested around his neck.
Thanking wasn’t the right words for the greatest gift a
woman can be given, giving her the son I didn’t get
to keep and what she couldn’t have.

2015  Kimber Michaela