My Neighbors

My neighbors are charming,
An old couple in love through
Sixty some years and six kids.
Phil had been an engineer,
Doubtless with formidable mind
But he was usually reticent,
While Nancy loved conversation.

Her wit I strove to match when
We met by chance at the café
Where the Pie Lady made her
Treats of muffins and pie and
Quiche with cups of rich coffee.
Nancy could turn a pun with a
Flick of her tongue, and always
I was so amazed—they’re nearly
Ninety and so engaged with life,
One would think getting old,
Really old was not so bad—and
Their love has lasted so long,
Undiminished, unblemished….

But now Phil sleeps most of the day
While Nancy wears his coat by mistake
And thinks she is going to the doctor
When her friend is driving her just
For a haircut—THIS is not what we
Think, a second childhood—a child
Has its own world but it is freedom
Itself Phil and Nancy are now losing.

They are losing their minds,
He slowly, she a bit sooner.
But when they sleep at night,
She still pulls the blanket o’er
His thin old body, an act of
Love and a proof Nancy is
Yet there…

She passed before him—
(my secret prayer filled)
Their love still whole,
But oh I miss her wit
Every time I bite into
a slice of cherry pie.