The Effervescent Mrs. G.

Retainer of the bridge club win and loss.
Perhaps the numbing fall is always painless
Like a good block or uppercut
That knocked you out.

Regarding the scar of a Christmas sunset,
She said there was no fear of time
But there was always curiosity
For the hours spent over coffee or sherry,

When the obituary became
A catalogue of world events,
She would address a grandson with the name
Of his dead uncle, using a timeless logic.

She walked with the poise of a polite drunk,
The captain of a reeling deck;
Swaying in the hall mirror, she once remarked
That every house should have a picture window.

Lately, surveying the perimeters
Of an upstairs bedroom,
She addressed a ten-watt bed lamp
And wept for Jesus like a toy drum.

Her timeless dress, her quick smile
Have become frozen in the blue light
Of a diamond, a mirror,
A window’s face framing the mad moon.

A curious love, curiosity kept her long,
Living on coffee and sherry.
But a cold scratched, filling one lung
Then another. When death came she blew bubbles.