She sleepily groped for, then clutched
the tenderly-fingered objects held
close and dear:
eyeglasses
iPhone
iPad
TV remote
this faithful ’emergency preparedness
kit’ lay alongside her in bed each night —
journeying to sleep, or reentering light
of day, the indispensables soothed her —
yet a torturous recurring dream
dangled beyond her grasp —-
to wake beside someone who would
accept her quintessence – not the
chimera reflected in her flatscreen TV