Tardive Dyskinesia

On the twigs of her wrists, my mother's hands
bobolink, titmouse, linnet, finch
Flutter in her lap, peck her blouse's buttons
wagtail, waxwing, solitaire, brambling
Curl into nests, shivering fists
rose finch, siskin, tanager

Pale and ringless, nails bitten to the quick
phoebe, bulbul They reach for a cigarette, whisk the air with matches
vireo, towhee, longspur

Doodling fingers, tapping thumbs flicker in feathers of smoke
grackle, chat, blue bunting

My mother's wings rise in her silent room, a dance of ashes and light
diamond starling, vesper sparrow, alabaster seraphim
I touch them

Michael Mack
Cambridge, Mass   *

*  "Tardive Dyskinesia" by Michael Mack, Cambridge, Ma.
© Poetry and Medicine
JAMA, March 10, 2004
Vol. 291. No. 10

Mother's Crystal Earrings

One of, if not the, last times/time I was with my mother in Tulsa in happiness she awakened me at dawn to shimmy up the mimosa tree to return a baby robin to its nest.

The treasure and beauty of her children, nature and Emerson were her life.

In fact she so valued me that soon after that event she had begun to take on my identity, an attempt to replace the torture of her own ego.

The tardive dyskinesia began almost immediately following the poisonous injection of fluphenazine and the motion never remitted.

The progressive exchange for identity never remitted.

On the day she died, 15 years later, she had become convinced that indeed I was the imposter.

Viewing her finally quiet, now in death, filled with joy I share her peace.

--  © 17 March 2004, wlw