another poem for my sister, who is doing better, blessed be God

Meanwhile the rain keeps raining

Though she can’t see me

And I can’t see her.

Meanwhile, as the squirrel leaps

Onto the wheel of peanuts,

The nurse says

She’s not going to crash anytime soon.

Meanwhile, though the snow is almost gone,

The wind is up

And the driveway is mud puddles,

The air around her is stale and antiseptic.

Meanwhile the cars whoosh

Along our road

The machines around her

Swish and tick and hum

Breathing for her.