Taxidermy
When your husband has Dementia, he dies twice. The first time he dies the most. His soul and brain go first. So what’s keeping him alive? Oh yeah, his organs. He’s a bag of organs.
But instead of burying him, you taxiderm him. You prop him up, and bathe him in warm soapy water and sniff him so hard you get a headache trying to smell past stale hallways and urine, trying to find what he used to smell like.
When his organs stop moving, it’s a relief. He’s free. When did you die, the first time or the second?
Photo credit: Rick Moerloos
Beautiful piece. Poetry from pain. Keep going.
Great piece, Valerie Maloof!
Eerie and startling. Great piece!