by Jane Beal
My dearest friend did not die
when I was in España,
despite the brain surgery –
a fact worth remembering.
I had felt so afraid
she would, six months after
another woman I loved
was killed in a car accident on Christmas Day.
In España, I stood in front of the candles
in the darkness of more than one church,
and lit them, and prayed
for my friend, far away,
knowing that surgeons far away
were shaving away the hair on her head
and cutting open her skull
to try to drain away the water
putting too much pressure
on her brain, trying to stop
the inevitable progress of pain
and the threat of a deadly seizure.
It’s true: my dearest friend did not die
when I was in España,
and seven years later,
she is still alive.
She is still alive.