Home Visit From Abroad

You must have been beautiful once.
I can tell from the way you hold yourself,
Even now as you fight against the rip-tide of aging,
And from the photograph so well dusted
On your mantelpiece.

Your husband left you a long time ago
To fight this war on your own.
Grandchildren smile from their perfect frames,
Flowers peek over the edge of
Well-washed vases.

“Would you like some tea, doctor?”
No thank you. Just the routine questions.
And to take your pulse. And blood pressure.
And to listen to your chest as well.
“Just an infection.

Take these four times a day
And you’ll be fine in no time at all”
Guilty, I do not stay to chat
And as I leave the house desperate for air
Another flower withers in her heart.