Kiddush on the Solstice

 Down the hall from
 my hospital room
 a man’s voice sings
 the blessing for Shabbat
 wine.
 
                  I see out
 my door
 what’s left
 of thin hair
 a pink hospital gown
 hands holding
 the wall
 as an old woman 
 peers round the corner.

 When the man
 finishes
 she stumbles
 back to bed.

                      —Michael Dickel
                                       21 June 2019