Gram’s Anniversary
by Tiffany Washington
Tonight, a fiftieth anniversary
celebrated on trays--
One held on a lap,
the other balanced across a bed.
The man screaming
down the hall, “Help! Help!”
serenading 50 years well-spent.
Bickering loudly over vanilla pudding
And the doctor’s refusal
to let her go home.
His speeding before dark,
to keep the bird company--
Missing weekly card games
and swimming classes.
Once, years ago,
she’d duck below the window
to avoid the gaze of salesmen.
Now flipped and prodded,
poked and turned--
glass walls separating her
and the rest of the world.
Privacy lost in a phone call made in panic.
50 years spent behind closed doors
—now divided
by a broken hip and fear of the dark.
celebrated on trays--
One held on a lap,
the other balanced across a bed.
The man screaming
down the hall, “Help! Help!”
serenading 50 years well-spent.
Bickering loudly over vanilla pudding
And the doctor’s refusal
to let her go home.
His speeding before dark,
to keep the bird company--
Missing weekly card games
and swimming classes.
Once, years ago,
she’d duck below the window
to avoid the gaze of salesmen.
Now flipped and prodded,
poked and turned--
glass walls separating her
and the rest of the world.
Privacy lost in a phone call made in panic.
50 years spent behind closed doors
—now divided
by a broken hip and fear of the dark.
Tiffany Washington is an 8th grade English teacher, mother of four, and sometimes poet. Her works have appeared in a number of print and online publications including Chantarelle's Notebook, Artis Magazine, Long River Run, and most recently, Thimble Magazine.