A Villanelle
My grandma smiled as I walked in the door
pretending to overpower her pain
because I came … to see her once more.
Black-and-blue I.V.-bruised arms, stiff and sore,
rose to greet me, and despite the strain,
my grandma smiled as I walked in the door.
With sorrow swelling inside me, I swore:
from weeping my welling eyes must abstain
because I came … to see her once more.
Courting her courage for our last rapport
while aware dwindling worlds would wane,
my grandma smiled as I walked in the door.
… And then, when she slipped into sleep, I bore
the vigil everyone evades in vain
because I came … to see her once more.
In the refrains of this bittersweet score,
I’ve gained the gratitude to explain,
“My grandma smiled as I walked in the door
because I came … to see her once more.”
E. V. “Beth” Wyler grew up in Elmont, NY. At 43, she obtained her associate’s degree from Bergen Community College. She and her husband, Richard, share their empty Fair Lawn, NJ nest with 3 cats and a beta fish. Her oldest daughter is a biomedical engineer and her other two children are SUNY undergraduate students. E. V. Wyler’s poetry has been published in: The Storyteller, Feelings of the Heart, WestWard Quarterly, The Pink Chameleon, Nuthouse Magazine, The Rotary Dial, and on the website Poetry Soup. In addition, 3 accepted poems are pending publication in Vox Poetica.
So beautiful and inspiring. You are as beautiful a granddaughter as she was a grandmother – for only then could you bring that last smile of joy to her face.
A poignant piece – beautifully rendered – with a lovely cadence.