Holding On

by Jeanette Cheezum

We glance from the drip of her saline bag to her face. We barely recognize the once strong woman in charge. Her breathing is labored and she no longer knows we are there.

We still hang on because we know at any minute she will open her eyes, get out of bed and insist on going home.

The reality is…not this time; we are approaching the end. Too many strokes, but the heart keeps its rhythm.

An empty chair on Christmas day.

* * * * *

"Holding On" was first published 2013 on Vox Poetica and nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Jeanette Cheezum is a 2014 Pushcart Prize nominee and was awarded The Helium Network’s Premium Writer’s Badge and a Marketplace Writers award. Her work has been published on several online writing sites and in print. She’s published in fifteen Anthology books and four books of poetry. Three of these books have made the New York Times Best Sellers list. Recently she’s published thirteen e-books waiting for you at Amazon and Barnes and Noble for children and general adult audiences. Jeanette is the publisher of Cavalcade of Stars and gets her writing inspiration from life and peering out her window on the Chesapeake Bay.