5FI5W contest Round 1.

Hot foot from the plane, I’m just in time
For the visiting hour. As the bell rings
I enter with a suitable smile
Which fades when I see your closed eyes.
How frail and shrunken you look!
Cold sores circle a collapsed mouth.

Taking a seat, I see you purse your mouth
And you open your eyes after a time
And give me a sidelong, cautious look.
You whisper, “I think your face rings
A bell.” . “It’s Jim, Dad.” I say, and search your eyes
For recognition, and gladden at your smile.

It’s a wide, gummy, moist kind of a smile
Made foolish without dentures in your mouth
But it reaches all the way to your eyes
And I haven’t seen that for a long time.
I take your hand, now bereft of rings,
And, choked, what I can’t say I try to look

Decorations give the ward a Christmas look.
A nurse with Santa hat flashes a smile
As she passes with a pile of paper rings,
Determined no one’s down in the mouth
At what can be the loneliest time
Of year. You track her progress with your eyes.

I recall wiping goo from sleepy eyes
And sneaking downstairs for a look
At what Santa had brought for me that time.
You caught and lifted me with a smile,
Stifling surprise with a hand on my mouth
And we roused the house with bike-bell rings.

Before too long another bell rings
But you have already closed your eyes.
I find the cream and put it round your mouth
And I’m rewarded with a surprised look
Followed by a slow and sleepy smile.
You close your eyes. I leave you in peace this time.

What happened to your rings? How frail you look!.
Still, your eyes said you knew me, and your smile.
And maybe your mouth, and mine, will be better next time.