A Poem by Cherise Wyneken

Reading the Signs

Ancients watched the night stars

spill from the sky

and wondered,

what changes do the gods divine?

 

“We’ll wean him

off the respirator –

less oxygen each day,”

the doctor says,

 

I watch him now, plugged into

machines, gasping for his life,

and wonder,

am I the one being weaned?

 

 

 

Cherise Wyneken’s individual articles, stories, and poems have appeared in a variety of publications, two full collections of her poetry, two chapbooks of her poems, a spiritual memoir, a novel, a children’s book, and a children’s audiocassette, plus her latest book, “STIR-FRIED MEMORIES,” stories about her life.   Cherise has also been writing a poetry column for the Oakland Examiner’s online issue at:  www.examiner.com/poetry-in-oakland/cherise-wyneken and was nominated for the 2013 Poetry Pushcart Prize.