Dan Lukiv
The Day She Died
Breath–gasping, she died:
I remember those high cheek–bones
And caved–in body—
A battlefield of cancer and radiation
And chemotherapy.
"I want to die with dignity,"
She'd often said in that 14–year
Curse as final as Adam's bite.
She'd been a nurse for decades, seen people die
In their own feces and urine.
"Pitiful sight," she'd said.
"Absolutely pitiful."
How I remember that caved–in body!—
Stooped, bowed, thin as spider–legs,
Wobbling to the bathroom,
To the bathroom! —and
Her mother, her old, aching mother,
Helping her, holding her,
Helplessly holding her up.
She wiped herself.
All by herself.
Then she returned to the wrinkled sheets
Of the hospital bed,
And died
Thirty minutes later.
I remember those high cheek–bones
And caved–in body—
A battlefield of cancer and radiation
And chemotherapy.
"I want to die with dignity,"
She'd often said in that 14–year
Curse as final as Adam's bite.
She'd been a nurse for decades, seen people die
In their own feces and urine.
"Pitiful sight," she'd said.
"Absolutely pitiful."
How I remember that caved–in body!—
Stooped, bowed, thin as spider–legs,
Wobbling to the bathroom,
To the bathroom! —and
Her mother, her old, aching mother,
Helping her, holding her,
Helplessly holding her up.
She wiped herself.
All by herself.
Then she returned to the wrinkled sheets
Of the hospital bed,
And died
Thirty minutes later.
Page(s) 42
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