The Perfect Word Was Spoken

(For my husband, following his successful liver transplant. With heartfelt thanks to the donor's family.)

I keep a room inside my heart for you,

Where sunlight finds its way across the bed;

A quiet portrait, faithful, constant, true,

That warms the space where once I wept with dread.

The shadows gathered when the sickness came,

The dust of all the words we feared to speak;

Your face grew thinner, yet it burned with flame

That gave me strength when I was stripped and weak.

And yet I would not banish what we share,

For love was tested deeper in despair;

The brilliant ache of life restored again

Proves still the bright world I will hold you in.

So let the candle’s flame be traced by smoke;

Its light survived, though trembling as it spoke.