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I Was a Vulture
by Abbie Johnson Taylor
©2022

Doc lived in the nursing home where I worked,
loved to read but couldn’t because of failing eyesight.

I got him a cassette player from the state’s services for the visually impaired,
arranged for him to receive books on tape from the regional talking book library.
For at least a year, he enjoyed listening to those books.
We often talked about them.

When he suddenly passed,
I hurried to his room
to retrieve the talking book player before it could be lost.
Although he’d just been taken away,
the equipment belonged to the state,
needed to be returned.
I felt like a vulture
but did the deed, anyway.

***
Back Story

I wrote the above poem recently during a meeting of my local Third Thursday Poets group. We read a poem about vultures and were prompted to write one. I did, inspired by my experience working as a registered music therapist with nursing home residents. This poem appears in the holiday extravaganza issue of The Writer’s Grapevine, which can be read at: https://pattysworlds.com/the-writers-grapevine-holiday-extravaganza-dec-2022-jan-2023-online-edition/ You can click below to hear me read it.