LMK
08-02-2010, 05:29 PM
Emma’s Privacy
A time no child may look upon or give thought to ‘til it comes;
The last day of a parent’s life.
Hearing that the time is near has no meaning,
Though the words are plain enough.
What can they be saying, she cannot go, it doesn’t happen
Yet knowing that it does.
The mind moves between a panic, grief, and nervous denial
Nothing seems real anymore.
It’s time, for her sake, to speak the words
Aloud say, "It’s ok to move on."
Not certain she can hear, yet feeling certain
It is what she needs.
Being there, alone and together with others
All who loved her.
Standing, sitting, leaning, looking for a reason to move,
Time ticks slowly.
Waiting by her side, to be with her ‘til the end,
She feared being alone.
The clock brings guilty boredom, unfinished conversations
Memories without stories.
A moment of laughter, a long period of silence
The movement of time has no meaning now.
The sharing of her life, the moments until her death
How can we help her now?
One by one, all return to homes no longer recognizable
There’s nothing more to do.
Plans are made to return tomorrow, perhaps in shifts
Wondering if that's appropriate.
The hospice nurse will sit with her through the night
Keeping her comfortable,
Not knowing her as a mother, a grandmother or aunt
She cares for her with the same love.
She listened as family members spoke of her all day
And learned from them.
That there might be things the dying woman feared,
But that is not who she is or was.
She lets her rest before she leaves her alone
For just a moment.
In everything she learned about Emma that day
Was that she was a private person.
When she returned she saw no movement in her chest
No beat left in her heart
The rattling whisper of her last breath, the one she’d wanted none to witness,
Had passed.
A time no child may look upon or give thought to ‘til it comes;
The last day of a parent’s life.
Hearing that the time is near has no meaning,
Though the words are plain enough.
What can they be saying, she cannot go, it doesn’t happen
Yet knowing that it does.
The mind moves between a panic, grief, and nervous denial
Nothing seems real anymore.
It’s time, for her sake, to speak the words
Aloud say, "It’s ok to move on."
Not certain she can hear, yet feeling certain
It is what she needs.
Being there, alone and together with others
All who loved her.
Standing, sitting, leaning, looking for a reason to move,
Time ticks slowly.
Waiting by her side, to be with her ‘til the end,
She feared being alone.
The clock brings guilty boredom, unfinished conversations
Memories without stories.
A moment of laughter, a long period of silence
The movement of time has no meaning now.
The sharing of her life, the moments until her death
How can we help her now?
One by one, all return to homes no longer recognizable
There’s nothing more to do.
Plans are made to return tomorrow, perhaps in shifts
Wondering if that's appropriate.
The hospice nurse will sit with her through the night
Keeping her comfortable,
Not knowing her as a mother, a grandmother or aunt
She cares for her with the same love.
She listened as family members spoke of her all day
And learned from them.
That there might be things the dying woman feared,
But that is not who she is or was.
She lets her rest before she leaves her alone
For just a moment.
In everything she learned about Emma that day
Was that she was a private person.
When she returned she saw no movement in her chest
No beat left in her heart
The rattling whisper of her last breath, the one she’d wanted none to witness,
Had passed.