Polly

Click to enlarge.

they gave
my grandmother
electric shock treatments
brought her down
from Castlegar
to Crease Clinic
and filled her round
soft body
with needles

I was too young
to know
only something was wrong

when I stood with her
in the garden
her gentle Russian face
a mirror
our pictures taken
beside
my giant sunflower

and it wasn't
until grown
I found out
she wasn't crazy
only afraid

afraid to tell anyone
she was bleeding

she didn't know the words
menopause, cancer
couldn't explain
her strange actions

and the hospital
didn't stop
the bleeding or her
fear

Copyright by Carolyn Zonailo: www.carolynzonailo.com, 2004