I opened the letter as it arrived
Hoping it would buoy her spirits
And diminish the long shadows ahead
Only to find the screen displaying
A line flatter than a prairie.
The code blue was issued
And skilled men and women
Sprang into action
Making the bed springs squeak
Their emergency made plain.
I should be used to this by now,
Death is part of every life,
Irony is cruel sometimes,
Just like the irony of a body bag
That insists on sterile packaging.
As though the dead would complain
About the cleanliness of
Their final sleep.
The medicine we needed
Not found in this world,
Now here we are hoping
She can still find it somehow
The fountains of joy
And streams of love
No doctor can prescribe.
I am sorry but I must
Return this to sender
For the woman in my care
Has died this afternoon.
A letter from one heart
To another no longer beating.
– Vagabond Prophet
– Thanks @josy57 for the prompt “The medicine we need”
Vagabond Prophet 