Finally Over

I know what it's like

to watch a mom

crumble and whither

until her sweat

was sticking her to a hospice bed

to watch her be hollowed out

by starvation and dehydration
and a swollen belly filled with fluid

that her tumor was spitting out

to try to stay positive

when she was being eaten alive
by something I didn't understand
other than that it was feasting

every time I left the room

to feel the ever-pressing need

to touch her or fix her hair

as if it would make her stay longer

to stay in the room

while she dirtied a bedpan
because my need to stay with her
would overpower the smell
of her lost dignity

to hear her death rattle

hours before the funeral home
came to zip her up

in a red velvet body bag

and wheel her away

as my relieved feet
followed behind

to know

that it was finally over