Brilliant White Lies

like water in a sieve
like circles of smoke
curling away in wisps
at least I still have him

I press his iceberg hand
and ask how he feels today
sometimes all right
sometimes a shrug
mostly he is tired

my fun-loving jokester
hides in shrubs of silence
fleetingly peeping out
like a rare yellow bird

Anita Beckstrom lives in Sister Bay, is a retired IMC aide and is a member of the Wallace Poetry Group. She has had poems in the Wisconsin Poets’ Calendar, Peninsula Pulse, Free Verse, Museletter and is working on her first chapbook.