Medicine of the Ancestors

“Medicine of the Ancestors”
Wendy Balconi
Collage

Olga Dugan

In Memory

(for Mom, Susan, and Christine Henry)

For I am persuaded, that neither death nor life … nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. —Romans 8:38-39

her daughter lets me in—
outside her bedroom window
evening shades climb over sunlight
up the brick-siding of a neighbor’s house
she watches till our presence distracts
hair, a white waterfall, puddled along
shoulders regaled in pink sapphire
of a favored cotton house coat
she fixes coffee-brown eyes on me
sighs a response to my explanation—
I am a hospice nurse come to evaluate her

can you tell me what day it is?
her bottom lip pushes the top one up down
as if she can taste what she is about to say—
no, I don’t know
what is your address?
her brow creases, the taste is bitter—I don’t know
um, okay, what did you have for breakfast?
she mulls this morsel over, not so bitter
it brings a smile—food, she laughs, good food
I laugh too, point to her daughter—who is this?
loss lurks in a stare gone blank

what comes next is the occasional miracle
the extraordinary spun from ordinary cloth—
she begins to sing, Yes Jesus Loves Me
clear of slur, in tune, reminiscent of a Dione
Warwick, Delores Winans, then mid-verse—
Do you know Who Jesus is?
a bit off script, but I follow—do you know?
sharp eyes replace the stare, gain supersedes loss
she pronounces a matter of her heart
Well, He’s the One Who saved me.
He’s taking me home soon.
she props her countenance on a slightly
folded hand, her confidence almost palpable—
I love ‘em.

lifting her head, she crooks a finger to stay us
but memory fleeting, finds no words to recall
the something precious she’s seen
still, we relish her moment of knowing
follow her gaze, back to the window
back to the brick-siding of her neighbor’s
house, at the sunlight that remains

This is how you know: A Verse Parable

(for Joe and Deborah)

Ye shall know them by their fruits. — Matthew 7:16

plant, shrub, or hardwood
indoor, outdoor
no thornbush or thistle in sight
three to thirty-nine feet
with deciduous leaves
deeply lobed or serrated
early as May, late as first frost
bears tear drops of fruit
yellow, purple, brown, or black
honeyed taste and soft
calcium/potassium rich
known for staving hunger
bringing forth health—
the ease of stiff bones
lowered cholesterol—
soon as they bend at the stalk
they’re ripe for picking…you
bite into the musical crunch
of edible seeds, squishy give
and this is how you know
a fig tree

the second is like the first—
it begins in a valley
of hospital stays on birthdays
rehab on holidays
it ends in view of a cure
a needed operation, delayed
but not denied, followed by
preventative infusions cause
deep muscle pain, foggy brain
but also a last day of chemo
at bell-ringing time when one
to one hundred and all ages
before, after, in between
are only ever children
showered with confetti petals of lotus
lily, sunflower, bluebell that rest
on bare heads bowed in praise
on hands raised in relief
bringing forth teary eyes smiling
prayer, joy tumbling past parted
lips in songs of safety, thanks…you
hear laughter and forgetting—
the highest wisdom of babes—
and this is how you know
a miracle


Olga Dugan (she/her): “I am an English professor and Cave Canem poet from Philadelphia. Continued growth in my faith and love for all the arts inform my writing, which gives me a room of my own where I can invite others in for conversation—probing or light, spontaneous or measured, a dance between minds that is always useful. Fascinated by what distinguishes individual voices in a polyphonic world, I wrote these poems, which explore the idea of what defines the miraculous, memorializing what characterized and shaped the stories my late mother often told to entertain and teach about who I am—who she was—as a unique, authentic self.” Nominated for Best of the Net and Pushcart prizes, Olga’s award-winning poems appear or are forthcoming in many literary journals and anthologies including Ekstasis, Spirit Fire Review, Relief, ONE ART, Sunlight Press, The Write Launch, Ariel Chart, Kweli, and Poems from Pandemia – An Anthology.