Death Watch

A Life, A Poem

By Eric Williams, MD

Lives on hold

As You lay dying

Lips barely move

Eyes seek focus

The mind wonders

‘Where am I’

‘Light my way’

While we try to live

We tell stories of your life

and the good days

Good times

We remember you for ourselves

Now… and for others later

We will write about you

We will speak of your triumphs and your losses

And of what brought us here today

How needs were conjured out of thin air

Food and drink and clothing and a place to live

You tell us that it was not ‘thin air’

But out of Love

Here you lay dying

While we try to live

Now, Death is coming

And he has quickened his pace.

We hear his rustling in the wind

We see the curtains sway as though a shroud has lifted

Your life before you

While we try to live

Truth be told

Our emotions are mixed

Some wish that you would pass now

Let your stalled life cease

Your heart stop

Your breath to hold.

But you blink

And your chest continues to rise

While we try to live

Your head seems to have shrunk and darkened in tone

Your neck has thinned

Your eyes have sunken into your face

And below them, the skin has darkened

as though stained by old blood

Cheeks now deflated

I count your breaths again

Cheyne-Stokes it’s called

As death nears the end of its final march

One thousand one, one thousand two …

We hold our breath with hers… then she inhales

… and we wait

Watching through the evening

At 8:12 p.m. on April 3, Anthonia Evelyn Williams took her last breath at the age of 97. She was surrounded by her eleven children, present in body and in spirit.

Eric Williams, MD

imango@att.net

Eric Williams, MD has been writing poetry and prose since his late teens. At the encouragement of a close friend, he has recently dabbled in the fascinating form of haiku where each chosen word holds a significant relevance in the piece. Dr. Williams, a retired vascular surgeon and a founder of the Future of Medicine program, is a wound doctor who says he is soon to be unretired because he still has a lot to give, particularly to upcoming and newly minted physicians.