09 – Room 814

2024 – Monument Hospital, Rapid City, South Dakota looking out in the Black Hills, surrounded by Indian Reservations, Rosebud, Pine Ridge, Standing Rock. People live here. People die here. I come in peace. Yet somewhere along the road a staphylococcus infection enters my body, attacks my skin, my organs, my life. The people in the blue uniforms attack the bacteria, bombard them with medicines, slice open flesh, drain swamp. Other people in white uniforms bring me food. I am housed, clothed, fed. Bells ring at all hours of the day and night. It is not church. Outside the grassroots wave and hint of wind. Helicopters come and go on emergency missions. It is possible to do yoga on the floor and my practice significantly improves. There are medication‘s for pain, there is meditation for brain. Beyond Room 814 armies clash, humans perish, they attack like bacteria but are crueler and more intentional. I feel safe here, cared for in ways I have never been cared for lo these long 80+ years on the planet. I accept my fate with gratitude. I needed to rest before continuing the journey.