We sit together at the big picture window, gazing.
So many evergreens, he sighs.
This is mushroom country too, he says.
The Hearst family has a spread up here.
A large fringe element, too, he adds.
Godless people, Roger’s nurse mumbles.
Roger squirms in the wheel chair. He has to pee.
Dammit! There’s not enough fat on my ass
to sit on a toilet!
The nurse helps him into bed, onto a pan.
Let’s watch a movie, he says.
How about The Big Lebowski?
That’s good for a laugh.
Ok, I say.
All I remember of that night is Roger,
Laughing, wincing, laughing.
We watch the movie twice.
I turn to smile at him when Walter says
His buddies died face down in the muck
so people could enjoy a nice family restaurant.
I thought he’d be smiling too but Roger was gone.
Copyright (c) 2012 Ellen McCarthy. All rights reserved.
