Lasting Love Poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

the lasting love

He gets up early to check his blood sugar level
it can be too low in the morning, it's half a banana
and make a toast, drinks coffee
The nurse, supplied by the social services arrive
at eight, to help his wife have a bath, comb her hair
and give her the pills needed.
Last night she had been her old happy self, but
held his hands fearful he should slip away again
they had laughed and spoken of the old days
They had met at a dancing restaurant, in Argentina
danced the tango so well, other people applauded
after this, they had become, as is said, an item.
65 years they had been married and always in love
to, perhaps, at the cost of their children who had
left long ago, with a busy career in the main city.
Today, if she is ok, they will drive to the coast
stop and admire the calm sea, for him seeing
so many oceans, see them as sleeping giants.
On a bad day, when she was lost asking the nurse
Who that strange man was; it's your husband!
No, she says it can't be true, he looks so very old.