literature

How do you say goodbye?

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Daily Deviation

Daily Deviation

April 9, 2011
Beautifully crafted, How do you say goodbye? by *La-Serpentia "is a heartfelt, eloquent tribute to a brave man."
Featured by nycterent
Suggested by zebrazebrazebra
Sperpy's avatar
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Literature Text

Three days after you started to die,

when it was just you and me,
and while your tongue roamed restlessly
inside your drooping mouth,
I asked how
do you say goodbye?

Do we hold hands -

your baby-soft grip already receding back
and out to sea, with the winking
calm of a rip laying itself
flat, while the surges of your fasiculations
score channels
in the shallow grooves of your ribs.

Do we say the words we already know -

I can see the delay
of words from your brain to your tongue,
and your sunken chest
heaving with measured words and
counted breaths.

Do I study your face, to remember -

the corners
of your eyes are already drifting
half to sleep,
your waterlogged body bobbing, undecided
on the sea or the clouds.
My father passed away on 19th October 2009 from Motor Neurone Disease. It is a horrible disease in which your nerves slowly stop working, so you slowly lose the ability to move (usually waist down or waist up first). The unusual thing for him is that he was in an extraordinary amount of pain, not usual for this disease

He eventually decided he wanted to be "helped" in his death, so he went into hospital one day, and had some very strong painkillers that sent him eventually into a coma.

He was sick for 5 years in total. And he was a very closed off man emotionally. I have always wanted to attempt to write something about his passing, and this is my attempt.

Now there are some things in this that are specific and meaningful. Fasiculations, for example, are muscle twitches, and very much a part of MND. He had these constantly, and not just on his skin but could feel his organs twitching - highly uncomfortable.

Anyway, this poem is about the time 3 days after he had been in hospital and we had noticed that his lucidity was fading rapidly, and thus it was time to say goodbye, and my struggle to know the right thing to do.



So this aside, despite it being personal, please please tell me what you think.
© 2011 - 2024 Sperpy
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cwedmart's avatar
This was wonderful.  I miss your contributions.