I was thinking about an old friend of mine who used to seem more like a sister than a friend.  During the earliest 1970's someone gave her acid and after an awful reaction to it she has spent the rest of her life on heavy psychotropic medicines and in nursing homes.  Sometimes I really bleed for her because she had everything: beauty, brains, she was sweet and articulate...Anyway, I wrote this for her and her journey.

Tumble into Oblivion

A Poem by C. Harter Amos

For Gayle

In the thickness of fog she had no beginning or end,

only a humbled bubble, she twirled,

round and soft.

At the edges of her vision,

a ghost; dismal and dull.

Then came the jingling of a bell:

an angel, she thought, warning of hell.

Curiosity overcame her fear

as she stood up to peer into solid grayness toward the sound

where suddenly in front of her a hound bent on some cause,

self-sent or spirit-led,

stopped for one moment to raise his head

as if he understood the trip she travelled on.

With tags jingling, he left, heading toward silent oblivion,

everything, again full of emptiness,

she was gone, dear sister-friend, tumbling into nothingness.

© 2009 C. Harter Amos