Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Core Values (a tribute to the living)

looking at my mom
and wondering who carved out
her immortality
and made her just another person
in the struggle

I see the medical staff
some whom I have worked with
and I am familiar with their lies
and up until two weeks ago
so was she

the 21st century
has done away with the white labcoat
and given way to off-the-rack suits
stylish yet affordable
in the era of HMOs

dramatically, she asks me to have her cremated
so I pretend to arrange it immediately
from her bedside phone
and she slaps the bed with her hand and says
"hang up that goddamn phone"

What I would give for some "anytime minutes" about now.

1 comment:

  1. That's heavy. It's very sad but it makes a great poem.

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