Uchenna Omokaro CWA 2007

Creative Writing Awards 2007

Class of 2009

Uchenna Omokaro, 09 is a graduate of Brown University with a BA in Community health. She has received numerous academic, volunteer and athletic recognitions including the Rhode Island Female athlete of the year award as well as Brown University’s Outstanding Female athlete award. Currently in her first year at YSN, a native of California, she is studying to become a Nurse-Midwife. 

Transcript of the Reading:

A Silent Hope

I watched her
Silently
Helplessly

She told me that she needed sleep
To go away and leave her alone
I almost did
But I couldn’t
I heard what her pain could not let her say

Behind her closed eyes
A trail of tears found an escape
One after the other they fell
Like leaves in autumn
I wanted to wipe them away
But I couldn’t
I saw what her pain could not let her hide

She opened her eyes
Looked straight into mine
The awkward nursing student
So unskilled, so useless
I wanted to say something, the “right” thing
But I couldn’t 
I felt what her pain could not let her express

Her lips parted slowly
“My husband just passed away
I have to bury him this weekend”
An aching whisper
The deepest of sighs
I wanted to take that pain from her
Carry it with me and bear its weight
Take it far away, to the ends of the earth
Out of reach and hidden from sight
Forever forgotten, never to be found

But I couldn’t
She knew it
I knew it
So I reached out to her
Took her hand and held it in mine
Because I could
And we held each other

As I watched her
Silently
Hopefully