prie-dieu

The night quaked with her restless cries,
all comfort lost in her sallow eyes.
Sleep would not come in desperate hours.
The nightstand's furnished like a geriatric bar,
lined with medications of every sort
promising relief in chemical comfort.
In her tenderness she couldn't decide
whether to the bed or on my breast reside.
But two days ago she was full of life
and now my baby's charged with strife,
slinking herself into my form
as though in my womb she could return.
Alas, there is no luck for me, or her--
the bug, to its course we must concur.
Suddenly, my faith is found
to the prie-dieu, my hopelessness bound:
I pray to God that she gets well;
I pray release from this fevered hell.

©2006 b.cisek

prie-dieu (")prE-'dy&(r), (prE-dy[OE]), noun: 1 : a kneeling bench designed for use by a person at prayer and fitted with a raised shelf on which the elbows or a book may be rested; 2 : a low armless upholstered chair with a high straight back
definition taken from merriam-webster online