Vigil by Mary C. McCarthy

The Sick Child by Edward Munch, 1886.

Vigil

No dark so absolute
no night so long
as the one spent waiting
at the bed of a sick child

Her pale face like a fallen moon
the only light in a dark room
Her breath the only sound
each one counted
like the beads on a rosary
each one a prayer, a promise
a hard negotiation.

Let the fever break
with the morning
let her rise
with the sun
or let this darkness
swallow us all.

Mary C. McCarthy

Mary McCarthy has always been a writer, but spent most of her working life as a Registered Nurse. She has had many publications in journals, including Earth's Daughters, Caketrain, and The Evening Street Review, among others. She has only recently discovered the vibrant poetry communities on the internet, where there is so much to explore and enjoy.

This poem was written as part of the ekphrastic 20 Poem Challenge.