I Wish I'd Written This

Angels Among Us

By Tiara Stingley

Her breath has become more shallow
For days now
She has grasped 
With frail hands at the air

Wisps of arm movements 
Unable to find any earthen substance 

"They just tend to become so lost in the end, don't they?"
The nurse remarks as she exits the room 

Stepping closer ,
Intrigued by a dear lady who has been at once friend and patient for two years 
I know that soon I will be unable to pat her hand 
Or hug her neck 
Or hear her say
" this is my favorite girl"

Distant eyes 
Suddenly become
Clear
"They are so pretty aren't they?"

"Who sweet lady?"

" the angels"

To some ... She is lost ...
To me ... She is blessed

Tiara Stingley is a Doctor of Physical Medicine — or, as we still say in Australia, a physiotherapist — who lives in Tennessee. As is obvious from this poem, she works with the aged. She also has a degree in Exercise Science and has been officially recognised as an 'outstanding' kinesiologist.

This poem was posted in a facebook group called 'small stones: Writing Our Way Home' which 'was inspired by a short mindful writing form created by Satya Robyn, and has evolved into a place where people can post their creative writing and receive support from each other'.  As you can imagine, it moved many people. Tiara graciously gave me permission to use it and her photograph. The photo is from January last year. It was very hard to find one of her by herself in her facebook photos. She usually appears with arms around friends or family members, everyone smiling broadly. She is clearly a people person.

Her only other poem online is also drawn from her working experience and it too is very moving.  Well, there's also what she posts to the facebook group — but as it is a closed group, there's no point in giving you that link. However, you'll be pleased to know that she is considering a compilation or a blog. On learning that, I suggested both! (Tiara, if you do start a poetry blog, please link it to Poets United, so we may enjoy more of your work.)

Poems and photos used in ‘I Wish I’d Written This’ remain the property of the copyright holders (usually their authors).