Time And The Tides

Drained of energy, he quipped, grinning,
as he inserted a new battery in my tired,
sputtering electric toothbrush. And I
wryly observed how fitting was that
comment applied to his wife, whose
body so suddenly and acutely has rebelled
so every movement had become an utterly
astounding exercise in exhaustion.

He cannot change or charge my
batteries while we await diagnosis of
this strange fatigue syndrome. Now, he
engages himself in a learning trajectory
tending to my needs and comforts as
assiduously and tenderly as I had done
him some many years ago in his need.

Underlying the protocol of care and
concern, fear of the unknown future
impelling us to action as though striving
for normalcy, as though by behaving as
we normally are wont to do, this descent
of the fearful unknown may suddenly lift
and turn back inexorable time and the
events that occur within its swift passage.