WOMAN WHO CRIED.

[dadio]

The woman was crying
In a side ward. You tried

Not to look, attempted to
Look away, but something

Drew you to her standing
There, handkerchief in hand

Crying. The nurse who was
Taking you to the ward where

Your wife was, said nothing,
As if the sound and sight were

An all too a familiar to stir her
Mind or soul, or maybe, she

Shut it out to keep herself afloat
On the wide sea of suffering

And misery and cries and moans
And blood and sick and open

Wounds and dying unknowns.
The woman stood like one cruel

Crucified, her arms out spread,
Her eyes glassy with tears, her

Features distorted, her cries
Piercing into your gentle self

Like some dagger pushed hard
Between ribs into your beating

Heart. Then she was gone, you
Had moved on, the nurse swaying

In her walking mode, arms swinging
At her side, and there in bed was

Your wife and there beside her,
The ghostly woman who had cried.