Some of you know I lost my wife Susan late in 2011 to leukemia. We were married 34 yea=rs. I occasionally get the lonelies. When I do something like tyhis is liable to result.

EMPTY BED

I climb the stairs,
Take my shower,
Brush my teeth,
Pop my night meds,
Gulp a few swallows of water,
And slip into bed-alone.

That’s how it’s been
Between sickness, surgeries,
Chonic pain , restless legs, coughing
Death…for a long time
We hardly slept together;
The cats got lots of room.

Someone human would be nice;
Someone to make an impression
In the other side of the mattress.
Someone to hold onto tightly,
To share whispered confidences,
Someone’s scent other than my own.

I don’t guess it will happen,
But not for obvious reasons.
It would be nice now and then,
But I’ve made a few choices
Along the way. Choices that
Preclude that kind of luxury..


So I lay alone in my bed,
Black cat at my feet,
Orange cat by my side,
And people my bed with memories,
Back when things were different.
Sometimes that’s all that’s left.

-Chip Bergeron
Summer 2014