CAREGIVER

      For Reena

We all agree: thank God there are people like Reena—
an angel from India, a live-in angel
who takes care of our mother in Israel.
One day she will go back to India, to her husband and
son, her home, but now she is with Ma,
working towards a better life for her family.
Companion and aide for the last three years
as Ma has declined, her memory almost gone.
Now, when Ma has a stroke and needs hospice care,
it’s Reena who makes it possible 
for Ma to stay in her room at home.
Reena who cleans her, combs her hair,
dresses her nicely, with dignity.
Reena who feeds her jello and yogurt
when Ma is able to swallow,
wipes her mouth when she’s finished,
cleans her teeth, her tongue.
Reena who lifts our small, thin mother
into a wheelchair to be wheeled outside
for a change of scene. Or rolled into the sunroom
where we visit with her in the warmth of the sun,
show her photo albums, gaze with her through the window
at the blue sky she loves, the pink petals of the bougainvillea.
We don’t expect much, just happy when Ma smiles at us.
Reena says maybe she’ll walk again, talk again,
though she’s 92 and has heart failure.
We see a body shutting down, nearing the end.
Reena sees a life worth tending, like a helpless baby.
A woman she loves.

Lori Levy’s poems have appeared in Rattle, Poet Lore, Paterson Literary Review, Mom Egg Review, One Art, and numerous other online and print literary journals and anthologies in the U.S., the U.K., and Israel. Two of her chapbooks were published in 2023: “What Do You Mean When You Say Green? and Other Poems of Color” (Kelsay Books) and “Feet in L.A., But My Womb Lives in Jerusalem, My Breath in Vermont” (Ben Yehuda Press). Levy lives with her husband in Los Angeles near their children and grandchildren, but “home,” for her, has also been Vermont and Israel.