Susan Eyre Coppock is a retired French teacher. She published Cardinal Days: A Coming-of-Age Memoir in 2016. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Paterson Literary Review, Free State Review, The Healing Muse, Constellations, and Juxtaprose.
Binding Off
Laying down her needlework
with a “Now we come to the end,”
she laughed as did I, her moving hands
folding her knitting into a lumpy ball.
We spoke of family
and friends, the chain of ties
increasing then decreasing.
I asked about her son.
She glanced at the window
her blue veined hands circling themselves.
“You know those birds that fly
into the pane, not seeing the glass?”
I nodded but her gaze stayed outside.
Down hospital corridors
down grey steps
through glass doors
onto the hard street.
Next day, empty room, empty bed
needlework and belongings laid out end to end.
All into a plastic bag,
the quiet handles holding on to me.
