After Bypass Surgery

When the heavy blanket of sleep lifted 
from my brain, I was alone in the cardiac ICU—  
my body a conjunction of wires and tubes.
There was the morphine euphoria, 
and the euphoria of uncertainty breaking
like an ice flow washing down river . . . 
the relief of being alive—
the joy of breathing on my own,
watching light flood the room,
that I could drink 
as much water as I wanted, 
see my wife again, 
feel her warm hand 
touching my face.