I kept checking my phone and email
waiting for someone to call,
to contact me.

No one ever did.

Not anymore.
Not after the missiles were fired
Not after we lost everything.

I lost my mother
I lost the very semblance of family
i lost everything that made me feel whole.

Except Auntie Anna
Auntie Anna and Uncle Steve were always there.

Except Auntie Anna was in the hospital
and I couldn’t see her.

She had fallen again
and they were keeping an eye on her.

Multiple Sclerosis was a cruel beast
an animal that was draining her dry

Auntie Anna told me it was a disease that attacked itself
wearing you down little by little
until you were too weak to resist.

Multiple Sclerosis had not met my Aunt.

She was strong, admirably so
and could put up one hell of a fight.
But she had her days
when you saw the fight
leave her eyes
fleeting moments of surrender

She had fallen in the shower the day before.
She was fine but “they” wanted to keep an eye on her.
“They” were the doctors
the ones who took so long to believe
she was really sick.

After the missile strikes hit eastern Europe
everyone was on edge
especially doctors.
Probably why it took them so long.
They were covering their own asses

In case it happened here.