A Bittersweet Farewell

The distant knell sounds in the New Year,

Welcome 2008...

 

Heads bowed knowing what is to come

This solemn prayer has become our only form of comfort

Tradition abandoned and taken way off course

As we ride this rollercoaster of emotions

Dragging upward and spiraling out of control

Words escape me…

 

A nightmare turned into reality

My thoughts drift away

To memories of when I saw you last…

 

Shiny machines and glistening tubes

Running in and throughout your body

The soft, airy hum of the ventilator

The ever constant symphony of beeps

Cast from the monitor falling in and out of the backdrop

Eyes fixed on the small frame engraved into the bed before me

 

Oh, how she used to smile…

 

It is hard to imagine

What you’ve just been through

But now, as many say…

"Sleep the sleep of those who do not dream"

Rest easy in that silent place and know no fear

 

Let tears shed, be turned to hope

And promise me that we will meet again

In a place where there is no time or space

A place well beyond our fears

Even if you journey far

 

Goodbye...

I hardly hear the words roll off my tongue

Such a bittersweet farewell