Visit with Grandpa

I went to visit my grandpa this morning
To keep my mom company.
Or, maybe the song on the radio today
Said it better. “Visit your grandfather
Every chance you get.” The world
Sure is funny with its coincidences.

The oxygen tank clinked alongside him
As we walked him back to the car
After his appointment. As he breathed
Through clear tubes and coughed
A few times, the car radio played
“Just Breathe,” as though breathing
Is the one simple thing we all can do
With ease, as though breathing
Is the solution, but sometimes breathing
Is the problem.

Back in the doctor’s office,
He recalled the years
When his grandparents were born
And when his children graduated school,
And he told jokes like he didn’t even
Have to think, but when he climbs
Out of the car, he is climbing a mountain,
Gasping for air in the high altitude.
I fear that he is nearing the top.