In Sickness and in Health

    by Mary Susan Clemons

This is not us.

Me in bleached cotton;

you in a straight-back chair.

This is not a stroll along the Tay River,

your hand in mine.

Not the whole hand, just fingers

on fingers so not to disturb the taped tubes.

We are not sitting in a Perth pub

raising dark amber to our lips

discussing the subtle differences

of Caledonian’s Scotch Ale and Inveralmond’s brew.

Solution drips into my veins from a pole hung bag.

Our bones don’t surge with the song of the bagpipes.

Only the monitor’s steady blip.

You mumble, So, can we get a room for two?

I try to smile, to assure you.

Muscles have lost their connection.

© 2009 Mary Susan Clemons

Mary Susan Clemons lives in Florida with her husband and two sons.  She is a member of NFSPS (National Federation of State Poetry Societies), FSPA (Florida State Poetry Association), and a local poetry group, The Poet's Corner Workshop.  She is a part-time moderator at Wild Poetry Forum, an on-line poetry workshop site.

Gold © 2009 Christopher Woods

Christopher Woods' photographs  have appeared recently, or will soon appear, in ANDERBO, BAP QUARTERLY, PUBLIC REPUBLIC, NEWPORT REVIEW and NARRATIVE MAGAZINE. He lives in Houston and in Chappell Hill, Texas. Other photographs of his can be seen in an online gallery which I share with my wife, Linda, at THE TEXANA REVIEW.

http://www.texanareviewgallery.com