Wendy McVicker 

has been writing since childhood, publishing poems since 1986, and
inviting people (in schools, libraries, and elsewhere) to join in poetry adventures
since 1987. Poetry, like all play, is both fun and all-serious. It connects us
with the world and each other, our past and our future as well as our right now, all we can imagine, and our deepest selves. Poetry is for everyone, every day.

 

       

Things That Are White (Her Last Birthday)

The envelope on the bedside table
The daisies, the baby's breath
The styrofoam plate and cup
A card on the floor, caught
     under the leg of the bed
The tiny white fabric roses
     in the copper bowl
The taut sheets
The pillows
The plush rabbit under her hands
The pleated lampshade
The ladies' dresses in the old
     old photograph
My father's smile in the picture
     where he looks away, wearing
     his Navy cap
That cap, and his white shirt
The shawl, folded and placed
     over the back of the wheelchair
The curtains, and the curtain rod
The tips of the freesia petals
The gauzy ribbons around the vase
     of roses
My paper napkin
Her lips
My heart, bled dry
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