Phil Volatile's Blog - Posts Tagged "obsolescence"

Listen

“I’m here for you” are
empty words when someone
is leaving

MRSA, C. diff.,
a secondary infection,
a ventilator in her throat,
congestive heart failure,
and a multitude of comorbidities
haven’t been kind to her

She is like a board because
the fluid of stiffening terror
has overfilled her body
and now leaks through
her eyes, dripping
down her soft, velvet face

The elderly woman peers
into me, whittling my core
Blindly staring,
she’s unable to ask the question
she already knows the answer to
My patient closes her eyes,
hard, and pauses for a moment,
like she’s trying to swallow,
or keep something from escaping
for just a little longer

She knows that behind an outfit
there is a person on the other side
and I know that purple gloves,
a gown,
and a mask
can’t save me from the inevitable


A hand reaches out and I grasp it
She stares, gripping me,
until I have to peel her away

75 years go by in an instant


From the new book, tentatively titled, Obsolescence