A Visit with Friends

The view from their kitchen opens onto a lush garden, shimmering in late August purples, lavenders, rose pinks, golden yellows, and green grass, green leaves punctuated by red berries or crabapples. The hummingbirds battle at the feeder, one taking command from his perch on a perfectly shaped twig just above and beyond and the others zooming in from over the treehouse or the neighboring church.

Outside, teeming activity, but inside, the people keep to a different rhythm: one tethered to an oxygen line, the other to him; and when, in their company, I look out, I see through a glass, darkly.