It seems right and appropriate
to drop everything for vigil
but on the fifth day
(or the eighth, by some counts)
the waiting seems interminable
and the tasks that wait at home —
cooking beans, paying bills —
seem suddenly attractive
as does, in general,
having something to do
besides waiting

I seem to have forgotten
there is more to it —
holding space,
being doula
for the transfer of the mantle
from father to son,
peace settling on all shoulders . . .

©Wendy Mulhern
October 27, 2017