“Still life is death.. “, she said
picking petals from the last geranium
I brought.
She had ceased to cry…
waiting, waiting by his side;
his every heartbeat luminescent on the screen.
a tube extended from his nose,
catheters in his veins,
and it was dawn the seventh day.
She bent and touched him gently…
and muttered once again:
“Goodbye… It’s time to leave”.
Still life by Adolph de Meyer
A poem of a scene I imagined from the image Kerry has selected for us at toads. I will also link this to Poetry Pantry tomorrow.
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August 04, 2018
Sad really! Such is the end of life for so many.
I imagine she had cried all she could, waiting. It is heartbreaking.
I too have sat by the bed of dying relatives and friends, they all no longer communicated, but holding onto their hands as they went on their way seemed somehow quite peaceful and satisfying for the both of us.
I know this scene – you’ve captured it so well, Bjorn, and it touches me deeply this Sunday before my dad’s seventh anniversary, especially:.
‘waiting, waiting by his side;
his every heartbeat luminescent on the screen.
a tube extended from his nose,
catheters in his veins’.
Thank you.,
Such a tender moment, Bjorn.. the moment when life ebbs away, so perfectly captured in the image of the dying flower.
Wow – what a superb poem..the last lines so touching
” it was dawn the seventh day.” ‘Dawn’ makes me think of a release, a joy from the earthly pains. The flower image makes these heartbreaking moments so tender. A beautiful poem Bjorn.
This is so poignant. I have seen people go through this kind of pain and loss… its heartbreaking 😥 the image of “picking petals from the last geranium”.. speaks volumes.
The scene has taken place many times in many people’s reality, I think! Told with a beautiful restraint that makes it even more powerful.
Heartbreaking yet beautiful.
Graciously she is letting him go.
kaykuala
She bent and touched him gently…
and muttered once again:
“Goodbye… It’s time to leave”.
Most poignant occasion that will be experienced by everyone
Hank
It happens like this a lot. I’m glad for the time we have to get ready. You sketched a poignant scene.
You’ve really captured the quiet sadness that must happen while waiting for someone you love to take their last breath. This was so poignant.
You have painted the scene so clearly. Our family told a loved one it was okay to go recently. A gift to the dying.
The mood illustrates the image perfectly–in the case of most flowers, even when look alive (the decapitated bloom kept in liquid life-support), they are mostly already dead. It’s sad, it hurts, but it’s true… When we apply that thought to a person, well… it’s a terrible, so very terrible. And still true.
a great response to the prompt.
it is a hard decision to switch off life support. 😦
Words familiar…on the seventh day.
Saying goodbye is one of the hardest things we humans have to do.
this reminds me of a relative of mine who was in the hospital before he died. so sad. nice poem Bjorn.
Oh Bjorn, your poem brought tears to my eyes, as I remember the final days of my dad’s death. Do hope, you haven’t experienced this, yourself.
Oh, my word–I felt like I was her, being watched in the moment with the screen and the petals and the loss and the acceptance.
I can feel the deep sadness, the goodbye of a loved one. There has been death recently in my family, so I know how it feels.
Wonderful dove-tailing of image with poem. You have managed to imbue a very intense scene with an ethereal quality that works beautifully in underscoring the fragility of life.
I really love the opening lines … and the pause between the spoken words, because it can be interpreted in different ways, still life is death ….
yes, still life IS death … and life is death, every day etc.
and then the sensitivity to this tight, sharp poem, as well as the ending, it really is edgy – but sensitive in some rather subtle way.
Well done, Bjorn. You capture the waiting well, and the fight with ourselves over an unstated impatience with the death process.
Nice but sad, Bjorn. When the geraniums lose their petals it’s time to go.
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You might try reading it after changing the “I” with “He”. Perhaps you meant it that way.
..
I love where your imagination ‘took’ you ……
Death is the stillest we ever get. Nicely said.