By Gail Shatsky

ELEANOR’S GIFT

I am relaxing into meditation
Listening to the teacher telling us to breathe
Trying to quiet the chatter in my mind
Trying to find the witness to my thinking

Hearing a commotion, looking up to see

Eleanor is fainting
The white curls of her head falling gently
Onto her neighbor’s shoulder

I am forgetting myself
Watching others tending to Eleanor
Hearing
“Place her gently on the floor”
“Someone call 911”
“Elevate her feet”
“Lower her head”
“Is she breathing?”
“Can you tell if she’s breathing?”
“Does anyone know CPR?”
“I think she’s breathing”
“Look! Her hand is moving”
‘Just keep her calm”
“Can she sit up?”
“You’re safe, Eleanor”
“We’re here with you, Eleanor”
“The Paramedics are coming”

The class is watching
We are becoming our lesson
Outside our selves
Watching

The Paramedics are coming in
Taking in the situation
Asking all the right questions
Monitoring Eleanor
“It will be alright”
Eleanor is on her cell phone
Talking, being wheeled out of the room

We are taking a break
Talking among ourselves
Feeling great relief
The woman in the red coat is saying
“I really need some chocolate”
I’m handing her the Hershey’s Kiss
I’m always carrying in my purse,
“Ask and you shall receive”
We are hugging.

The teacher is asking us to regroup
We are starting to meditate again
I am going deeper, faster, it’s easier
The watcher is still watching
And somewhere else in the building
A group is singing Happy Birthday

Gail Shatsky belongs to the Gypsy Poets where she is searching out the poetry in life.