This Is How You End Up Remembering Him

by Shae Krispinsky

Eyes both bloodshot and jaundiced
staring at who knows what lies there
out past your shoulder
maw where teeth used to be
tube protruding, clearway for air
manacled wrists for protection
cold, waxy skin, hands ballooned from edema
heart machine-coerced to twelve
beats a minute. You take 
his hand, announce
you felt his fingers twitch.
Your mother says, A miracle.
Your mother says, He knows you’re here.
Your mother says, He waited for you.
The nurse, blue-scrubbed,
ponytailed, mascaraed, standing
in the doorway shakes
her head: No. The most
sympathetic denial. You 
hold his hand 
until the twitching stops.

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Shae Krispinsky lives in Tampa, FL, where she fronts the band, Navin Avenue, whose sound she describes as Southern Gothic 70s-arena indie rock with a pop Americana twist. Her fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry have appeared in Connotation Press, Thought Catalog, The Dillydoun Review, Vending Machine Press, Sybil Journal, and more. She is currently working on her band's second album and a novel.