she kept not dying
so we stayed by her bedside, listening
to the bleeps and bloops, the hums and whirs
that had long since replaced her speech
how can I explain those sounds to you
make you understand that they were shouts
bludgeoning our ears, stinging our cheeks
all we wanted was for her to be released
set free from her enforced mechanical existence
allowed to drift off to a place without machines
we talked into the night, there around her bed
coming to terms with the decision we knew
was being forced upon us, like it or not
until finally we called the doctor into the room
explained that it was time for this to end
the noises stopped, and we wept into the silence
10 February 2013
Auburn, AL
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