Mario Susko
The Simplicity of Departure
thought currents, short-circuited
in the brain, deeds done or hoped for,
lingering till the scent of being evaporates
to conform to the simplicity of departure
: taken out on a stretcher, lying
full length under a white blanket,
her mouth wide open as if in the middle
of a high c, her eyes closed, hidden
from the twirling ambulance lights,
like those of a fire truck that circles
the neighborhood on the easter eve,
drawing people out to witness the witnessed
: the stretcher placed onto the tracks,
pushed in, its bound limp legs tucked under,
two attendants climbing in, one carrying
a portable resuscitator, the third shutting
the creaky wings, walking around to the cabin,
everything part of a choreographed scene,
silent and orderly, even the absence
of a wailing siren when the car is in gear
announcing an unhurried one-way journey,
the whispers of the extras left behind
dying out slowly, and things going back
to normal when the lights disappear
in the flow of the main street traffic.
I let the vestibule door close with a click
and watch blobs of rain starting
to lift the pavement’s choking heat.
was it the same way with my mother, were
the same words uttered: Does she have anyone
: the questions asked over and over again
but never dared to be answered.
as the twitching bulb goes out, turning
me into a smudged unrecognizable image
in the glass partition, I suddenly burst
into laughter, realizing I’ve locked myself out.
Page(s) 47
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