Bill Galvin Poems

I see the sky take on a light glow…
I feel the sand beneath my feet…
(No need to look back, I know the tracks I leave) .
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It's been over twenty years;
It's been over tears and fears;
It's been through a hundred trials,
And still we manage smiles.
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Nights got longer;
Days got colder.
Chill crept into our bones.
Fear got stronger.
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sometimes
I wake to the morning light
and see her lying next to me
in the quietude of dreamy silence.
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Where my heart remembers Stephen
A lone falcon flies.
She selects an early morning perch
And queries this newness
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A diagnosis as ghastly as could be;
An empty space where you should be.
What I'd give to hear you complain once again
-Of elbows and knees bumping in the night,
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This, a place…
Abundant with dark green moss
And off to the side of a trail
Only lightly traveled
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Outdoor Lesson

Drafted summer 1975; completed 2014
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After two solid weeks of progress, of gains on physical therapy machines, of confidence building, of standing, walking, forward thinking… a day of despair, despondence… and fear.
Fear of the future; the place where this ALS takes us; the ignominious helplessness.
The doctors told her a while back to live day to day; focus short term. But how is that possible, really? But the suggestion is a good one, since some ALS patients sometimes require anti-depressant therapy, as well.
She's done a good job so far. And today, a day when we were quietly celebrating a brighter, more mobile future when a power wheelchair was fitted to her for a test drive, some decorations fell off the Christmas tree. I had heard that she had already had some "moments" earlier, and had teared up a few times.
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A Blessing for Today - March 31,2014

I dreamed that we cleaned up the backyard
And joked if we got just the way you wanted.
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