“Words like Blackbirds” is a poem from Jacqueline Moss’s collection entitled The Hand You’re Dealt, published by Poet’s Press.
The poem reflects on the final stage of my hospice patient’s life before her death. I was a visiting hospice volunteer. She was often very open with me about her life and the events which shaped her. As she got closer to death, I prayed that if there was anything else she wanted to share with me, she would do it while she was still able to speak. I had an impression of her words taking flight into silence like flocks of birds.
WORDS LIKE BLACKBIRDS FLYING
by Jacqueline Moss
Tuesdays
I sit beside your deathbed
It is changed and clean
You are changed and clean for a stranger’s company
Last night
A crow-feather cloud
eclipsed your stars and moon
Black out
No memory
You forgot your daughter’s name
This is not the time for courtesy
We must talk candidly
You could loose your mind shortly
permanently
Speak to me
Your words are
gathering like flocks at night
preparing for migration
to a distant shore
