How to Fall in Love with Him

By Tom Griffen

Bend your knees, lean down, and place
one of your hands on his as it rests
on the arm of the wheelchair. Look
through clouds in his eyes and put
your lips to his cheek. Move slowly.
Do not wonder if this will be the last time.

Do not think, right now, about
life before this, last summer when
he spoke in a voice without a stammer,
without the brogue dredged from his youth.
Do not consider his small body,
limp and folded. His muscles evaporating

into stale hospital air. How there’s no way
he could lift a wooden oar, let alone
dip it into still water. No way he could explain,
again, how to move gently, tenderly across
the lake top, absorb its silence, create
tiny undertows with each pull of the paddle.

Do not imagine wind blowing his thin hair.
No freshwater rippling on the muddy banks, no
gathering tufts of white, shivering foam.
Do not try to remember everything at all at once.
No. Just do what must be done. Nod and say yes
when he asks if everything’s going to be alright.

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