“Oh, Maria,” by Ethna McKiernan (Poetry ’04)

Poetry alum Ethna McKiernan was recently featured in the Innisfree Poetry Journal. Read an excerpt of “Oh, Maria” below:

Oh, Maria

One Thursday at Homeless Services

More days than I’d like
I remember Maria staggering toward me
into the lobby and dying in my arms—
how I was wrong to think we needed to call Detox
rather than the ambulance, how she couldn’t, except
with wild eyes, speak, but shook
and shook and shook.  
The bright lights of the lobby
made me dizzy.    
Maria slumped against me
and I yelled for water, water, someone get water,
but when I held the glass to her lips,
her fingers pushed mine away
and she began to choke.
I just didn’t get how fast
she was slipping away, how
I should have yelled for more help
and put her on the floor to do CPR,
if I remembered, God help me, how.
No pulse, but I kept holding her.

Read the poem in its entirety here: http://authormark.com/artman2/publish/Innisfree_32ETHNA_MCKIERNEN.shtml