first encounter of a feeling

seven years ago when in a bed

i slept and woke for days sick

white coats move daily for a week

my husband’s brows met

feeling he encountered but

as the sick i did not.

now for nearly a week he is

sick weak and strapped to bed

i encounter for the first time

a fear i have not felt

a loneliness others cant blow

that man is separate and one

at the same time, moving two

but one in marriage, union

but physical things can rip

no one can perfectly anticipate

an encounter of a feeling

which can leave one shy

of the life in the future

wary of the strength of now

fearful of the shadows ahead.