i remember the worst of it
he'd stopped walking
and was stilled further by morphine,
after that day in the hallway-
those days in his house
seemed interminable,
punctuated by collapses,
administration of medicine,
the rapid decline.

may came and went
my grandfather was 92 at the time
and had stayed with him for those
few months.
by june we'd sold the house
and divided every possession.
drove that full moving van to his brother's
in bowling green, storing
everything meant to be dealt with later.
i went back to baltimore
slowly pieced it all back together
and the things of his
that i'd brought back with me,
they now filled my apartment

it took time

the weight of his
absence like a cloak
around me