Da Da

I sit in a reception
Area by the rehab
Front door reading
A book when a group
Of patients are wheeled
Up to assemble a bus
Full to take to doctors.
One lady in her 70s has
Had a stroke and cannot
Learn to speak again ever.
She is cheerful and chatty
Saying DA DA, DA DA in
Response to others if she
Favors what they say or do
And a resigned DA DA if she
Simply complies to orders.
She is a sweet lady and makes
Herself understood by all
Around her staff and friends.
I listen to her knowing there but
For the grace of God go I.
As I roll past her back to my
Room I smile nod a good day.
She beams and smiles DA DA.
I am learning a lesson in
Humility here in rehab,
A lesson on the frailty
And relentless impulse
To rebuild injured
Bodies by rehab
And the care
Given by
Staff and
Friends and Family.
For so many who are
Bedridden with no chance
Of recovery or a quality of life,
Who cannot even adjust to a life
Of DA DA the tragedy is not them
But their family who cannot pay
For their care, whose spouses and
Children are reduced to tears by
Their future impoverishment to
Keep alive one better if allowed
To die but stopped by laws to
Protect lives already lived,
I hope those spouses opt
For divorce to allow them
To salvage half their life’s
Earnings while their spouse
Goes onto Medicaid to
Pay to sustain a useless
Existence for years.
This kind of divorce
Allows the surviving
Spouse to stay a
Loving partner
To visit as often
As they can and
To adjust to a
New life but
Not let go
Of their
Loved
One.