My grandmother

Living alone, a little house in the forest
Taking care of her dog, cooking as she chorused
But in the night, she falls from bed
With a broken hip, to the nursing home she fled.
Surrounded by people she had never met,
She found her way in this new set.

Moved to Seattle, she settled into our house
Only occasionally uttering the slightest grouse
Mom tried to get her to draw and do art
But she no longer seemed to have it in her heart

Gone are the days when she lived abroad,
Worked as a pilot with her best friend Maude
Though her mother told her “Be still and get married.”
She hated the thought and wanted it buried
So she stayed across the Atlantic
Where she learned Russian, French, Latin and Arabic.

She sits and stares blankly at the black screen
The TV isn’t on, no channel to be seen
And when I ask her how she’s doing in my most cheery voice
The sadness inside me disguised as rejoice
She responds with the same “I’m okay”
Practically the only words she says to me all day