The bus driver‚s wife, Bernice,

creates a little nest

in the first passenger seat

behind the wheel

jacket, packet of papers,

maps of many regions,

small items for comfort on the road:

water bottle, mints and grapes,

a red travel pillow, blue lap robe.

Hanging from an S-hook

from the window ledge,

her pale leather purse.

Hostess for the trip

Bernice beams her gentle smile

around vision fading,

plastic knees, a hip that crumples

her into a wheelchair for long walks.

To help, at one stop,

I hoist her bag

while she hobbles with her cane,

meet her twinkling eyes

as I gasp at the weight.

My doctor says, get rid of that purse,

she laughs into my face.

But it holds my whole life, so

she shrugs, reaches for the bag.

Balanced on her cane, listing to the left,

Bernice holds tight to her treasure, limps away.

Biography

Patricia Wellingham-Jones, former psychology researcher/writer/editor, has been published in journals, newspapers, anthologies, and online. She has won numerous awards and been the featured poet in several journals. Her most recent books are Don‚t Turn Away: Poems About Breast Cancer, Labyrinth: Poems & Prose, Apple Blossoms at Eye Level and Lummox Press Little Red Book series, A Gathering Glance. She lives in northern California.

Patricia Wellingham-Jones PWJ Publishing http://www.snowcrest.net/pamelaj/wellinghamjones/home.htm