Still Life

The old woman stood on the front porch
waving goodbye.
Watching long after the sound of tires
on the stones had melted away.
She watches as the car with her family fades from sight
and the clouds of dust settled back to earth
as the air cleans itself.

It had been a good time
with her son,
his wife and the two grandchildren running around,
it had given added life to this quiet place
far from the hurried pace of their maddening world.

There would be other times she believed.
Other good times
but none quite as enjoyable as this one.
For the cancer had not yet arrived
But soon
all too soon it would take what it had no power to give

There would be tears she supposed,
but with all her heart she wishes
she could stand one last time
and wave goodbye
hear the crunch of tires,
then watch as the cloud of dust settles back
over a life that was lived.