The path started concrete in the land of the dead,
Step by step it turned to the color of red,
Tired eyes gaze upon a river turned black,
Cries of the buffalo there is no going back.
Step by step towards an end unknown,
Mile by mile, back to the past, it has come and gone,
Machine respirators now line the earth,
Keeping alive the very thing they hurt.
Red path warrior keep the vision clear,
In beating heart keep love near,
Narrow the gates and narrow the road,
This red path will lead you to a place called home.
Categories:
respirators, freedom, hope, journey, native
Form: Rhyme
years of pain
sometimes unbearable
terminal illness progresses
your future – always in God’s hands
abilities slip away swiftly
no longer able to care for yourself
friends and family create distance
but my Living Will brings comfort
comatose patients can linger for years
life-pumping feeding tubes and respirators
false hope instilled in loved ones
watching and praying for a miracle
no machines will keep my body alive
I’ll not go out this way
as my “Rage Against the Dying of the Light” closes
my spirit’s eager to explore eternal life
no viewing or funeral
just a blessing of last rights
ashes scattered in the Atlantic sea
where cool waters carry memories both life and death
*Written February 16, 2012 for Catie’s “Free Verse” contest
Categories:
respirators, death, introspection,
Form: Free verse
People walk by me
Occasionally pausing to stare
At something that will never be theirs
Smiling heart shaped lips
Almond eyes and I swear to longevity
These will outlast everything
Turning my head and I eavesdrop
I fall in love with the rhythm of heart beats
Clicking like respirators
So irregular, flawed, seriously indicating
faint little consciences
Beautiful still I can’t help but tap my heeled closed toe shoe
In time to defective melodies of the soul
Syrupy lies clog throats
From speaking to this fresh young lady sitting
Beside the fountain
Warm stones, give impressions of rose painted happiness
Drops of water, aqua colored remedies
Splash into my pink slip of a skirt
Washing stains away
I could sit here all day
Listening to musical streams of consciousness
Hitting pavement dreaming of
Ricocheting
off into the sky
Watching people sway, pray to the sun
For letting rays fall upon them
Politely letting their eyes fall upon me
Please stare, I want my radiance to signal
New beginnings in minds and trigger
Deletion of what was left behind
Before the respirators of the mind
Opened up hearts to let people breathe
Categories:
respirators, people, heart, people, heart,
Form: Free verse