Slovakia

by Katherine Flannery Dering


When we met, I was her son’s soon-to-be-
second wife. She was an imposing woman
—tall and broad in her suit and stacked heels
—not someone to tolerate nonsense.

She looked at me askance, her confusion about
how to relate to this proposed replacement
daughter-in-law, written on her loose cheeks.
No one she knew had ever divorced and remarried.

Now, 30 years later, she’s been having bad headaches,
possibly small strokes. She’s lost weight.
Her hair, once golden-brown, stiff with hairspray,
is mussed and gray. It’s midafternoon

and she’s lying in bed, fully dressed, crying.
She won’t get up, keeps repeating something
—I think in Slovak, though she’s been in the U.S.
since she was eight. She’s crying again.

I take off my shoes and lie down next to her,
and try to soothe her. “Hey, Mary,” I say
as softly as I can muster, smoothing
the sheets, brushing hair from her eyes.

“It’ll be OK. Is it a headache? How can I help?
Can I bring you something?” Her body
visibly relaxes, and she begins to smile.
“I had a pony,” she whispers. “He was white,

and I brushed him every day.” A tear runs down
her cheek. “Can you bring him to me?”
“We’ll see,” I say, the will-see of a practiced mother.
“Let’s just rest here for a few minutes, OK?”

I hold her hand, my head inches from hers
on the pillow. Her face softens. I can see
her eyes moving behind their lids. Her pony
gallops around us in a field of Alpine wildflowers.


* * * * *

Katherine Flannery Dering writes poetry and prose and lives in New York State. She has published a mixed-genre memoir, Shot in the Head, a Sister’s Memoir a Brother’s Struggle (Bridgeross). Her poetry chapbook, Aftermath, was published by Finishing Line Press. She holds an MFA from Manhattanville University.
 
Her website is www.katherineflannerydering.com, and she is on Facebook as Katherine Flannery Dering, author.