I Am Dying Aren'T I
i am dying aren't I
there is no box in time
where we can keep the truth
the knowing within
always betrays our deepest wishes
the dying needs a hand to hold
strokes across the forehead
the feeling they are not alone
with few words whispered
i am here my love
i am here my love
no deeper softness can life give
i am here my love
it was in a white room father passed
every nurse was dressed in white
we watched his last breaths
as that moment came to a conclusion
i pulled my sisters into an embrace
mother tugged his arm
a parting gesture calling his name
this was the finale of months
trips to the hospital
to share what in life we were doing
as leukemia swallowed his existence
our holidays together ended
on that Thanksgiving
years later God would call me
from the soup kitchens
and into the halls of the hospitals
where i would see this occasion
played out now and then
my scrubs were powder blue
with an angel above my heart
i matched the walls
nurses' scrubs were fields of flowers
or an aviary alive in jungles
sitting with them for lunch
i often thought my dad
would have loved the colors
but more so the ending of life
is not a sterile white room anymore
OKC 9/22
Copyright © Timothy Ray | Year Posted 2022
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