With a Flick of the Wrist

[Jassy Melson]

or a squeeze of the finger
or breathing invisible gas
I can end all the suffering.
No more physical pain,
no more anguish,
no more worry,
no more doubt,
no more division of my being,
no more mental illness,
no more fear,
no more waiting,
no more watching
my body slowly decay and die,
no more illusions and delusions.
So why don't I do it?
What is holding me back?
Is my desire for living
stronger than my desire
to end the nightmare?
Or am I simply a coward
who will stumble on
in this hell, enduring it
because I'm too scared
to end it, too scared of the pain
involved in ending it?
Will I live out the years remaining
as a whimpering fool
depending on others to live,
too afraid to take matters
into my own hands
and die, and existing
as a mere vegetable?
Why don't I do it
and end the uncertainty?
I don't know why,
you tell me.

[Hawkman]

The soliloquy from Hamlet (if he was high on coke and clutching a nickle plated 9mm) might have sounded like this. Then again, it might not...

[Haunted]

Been wondering that too, was hoping you would tell us. Aside from that it's thorough and thought provoking.

[Jassy Melson]

The character in this thing (I won't call it a poem), is an old man who has some kind of incurable disease--probably cancer. He knows he's going to die in a few years. He suffers constant physical pain. He's questioning whether he should wait and die (in the meanwhile enduring constant physical pain) or take matters into his own hands and kill himself now--thereby ending the constant physical pain. Either way, his death is inevitable.

[Haunted]

I didn't get the character at all by reading it. On re-reading it I did see some references to end of life, but it sounds more like a general thought than from a particular person. Maybe weave in some life supporting equipment or diseases? Not sure....

[Jassy Melson]

I think the key to the whole thing is the character's last question. He asks that question twice so it means something of importance to him

[Maryd.]

Jassy, this is too real.

[Jassy Melson]

Please, do not think that the character is me. I am determined to live as long as I can, and I am not in constant physical pain, but if I were...

[Maryd.]

I mean I found it deep.

[Jassy Melson]

Ah...okay...that's me--I'm one deep fellow...I'm so (knee)deep in it that I think in the overall scheme of things that it really matters. Do you think Zeus listens to anything we mortals say?

[Maryd.]

I don't know... But I could do with a little Zeus right now. Or a lot!

[Jassy Melson]

After sipping on some heaven-made brew
Zeus takes a snooze on Mount Olympus