More Poetry For Trudy

After I posted the first poem in honor of Trudi Miller I got another message from WCA member and Roxmor resident Mike O'Neil. Here is what Mike had to say:

"I thought highly of Mr Wetterau's poem for Trudi. It made me want to share this poem I wrote about her too."


Trudi's Elixir

It was good, towards the end,
That I could do something to help Trudi,
that dear woman, my friend since childhood.

Besides the breathing, and the moving,
Eating had become a troublesome thing.
"I seem to have a house full of bad food," she said.
The visiting cook from the hospice
tried tempting her with chicken pot pies
and other culinary dainties
and failed.

I showed up at her kitchen door with a pot full
of her favorite summer soup.
Vichyssoise—that agreeable pureed emulsion
of fresh chicken broth, new dug potatoes,
blanched heart of leek, cream and butter,
With floating snippets of bright garden chives.
Good for what ails you.

And for a time she consumed it
to the exclusion of all else.
She ate it morning, noon, and night—
Begrudging her husband even the smallest sip
of that summertime elixir.
For a time, but only for a time.

Mike O'Neil
October 3, 2003