A Little Less than the Angels

My brother doesn’t read books,
   except for the Bible, his choice
      even before his wife became his baby,
         slumped in her wheelchair,

rolling her tongue around her gums
   as if searching for missing teeth.  
      And who is he smoothing her hair,
         pressing a cup of water to her lips? 

He points to tracks he’s rigged
   along the ceiling, the pulleys he’s attached
      so he can lift her from wheelchair
         to toilet to bed, careful to tuck her knees,

her feet, checking her eyes for signs
   of comfort or distress.  Evenings,
      he pedals his stationary bike and reads
         the Psalms, reciting them over and over

to keep from falling asleep. Because
    it’s tiresome and lonely, though
       he doesn’t complain. Weekdays,
          he escorts her to day-care, staying \

to play the banjo and sing tunes
   for the old ladies who nod and tap their feet.
      “Let me call you sweetheart,” they sing along,
           making eyes at him, loving him so much

they want to take him home.
   My brother is a lover.  He presses fifty pounds
      on the shoulder machine at the Y,
         bathes his wife three times a week

and needs his strength so she doesn’t slip
   from his arms.  Then what would he do
      to Praise the Lord, all He hath given,
         all He hath taken away?

First comes my brother Richard, a remarkable human being, and his loving care of his wife Dorothy for the past eight years.  Then comes a poem by Wislawa Szymborska, “In Praise of My Sister,” which helped me see a way of writing about my brother without being maudlin.

by Claire Keyes

From the anthology, Beyond Forgetting

Beyond Forgetting is a unique collection of poetry and short prose about Alzheimer’s disease written by 100 contemporary writers-- doctors, nurses, social workers, hospice workers, daughters, sons, wives, and husbands –whose lives have been touched by this tragic disease.  Through the transformative power of poetry, their words enable the reader to move “beyond forgetting,” beyond the stereotypical portrayal of Alzheimer’s disease to honor and affirm the dignity of those afflicted.  With a moving foreword by poet Tess Gallagher, this anthology forms a richly textured, literary portrait encompassing the full range of the experience of caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease.

Published by Kent State University Press as part of their Literature and Medicine series, Beyond Forgetting is available through the KSUP website at http://upress.kent.edu/series/index.htm.   For information on upcoming readings, check the website: www.beyondforgettingbook.com