Gravity by Maria Rachel Hooley Lawton, Ok. The first freeze of winter has brush-stroked the sky With puffy gray sow clouds, Voluptuous in their season. As the seasons changed guard, you remained Cloistered inside, Two pairs of socks on your feet As diabetes had short-circuited your veins-- A pre-emptive strike, A visible sign of misplaced threat. You passed the hours, checking your blood sugar level Until a chest cold visited, and like a zealous guest, Took over, engorging your lungs With fluid you couldn't cough up, Not even inside hospital walls With tubes inserted to drain the amorphous mass, Infused with new life stolen from your body, The culprit hidden beneath the dark waters rising in your lungs. The cancer stirred As if it heard the doctors calling it's name. Just in time for summer, Gravity released your spirit's tethers And the monitors went crazy As your spirit was reborn Into flight while I remained earthbound. Maria Rachel Hooley’s poetry has been featured in over 65 national magazines as well as her short fiction.  She teaches English at the secondary level and lives in Lawton, Oklahoma, with her husband and three children.  In her spare time, she enjoys reading and photography.

(photo by Ronald Fortini)