Terminal Lucidity by Jean Ryan

Hours,
sometimes days,
before death,
those who have been missing
resurface, appearing as they once were,
speaking and smiling
as if freed from a curse,
giving their loved ones
one last chance.
No one knows how a brain
clogged with plaque,
marred by stroke,
can come back whole,
even for an instant,
unless the brain serves
the mind and can be summoned,
even while broken,
the way a man can lift a car 

if he must.



Jean Ryan, a native Vermonter, lives in coastal Alabama. Her work has appeared in a variety of journals and anthologies. Nominated several times for a Pushcart Prize, she has also published a novel, Lost Sister. Her debut collection of short stories, Survival Skills, was published by Ashland Creek Press and short-listed for a Lambda Literary Award. Lovers and Loners is her second story collection. Strange Company, a compilation of her nature essays, is available in digital form, paperback and audio. https://jean-ryan.com/