Please be aware that this poem is on adult themes (suicide) and may be confronting.
I think they're going to pull the plug soon
maybe tomorrow
she's been in intensive care since Thursday
in the afternoon
when we found her
tried to bring her back to life
she started breathing by herself
for a while
but that's all
today they said her brain has died
everything is being done
by machine
set to automatic
on Friday
we talked among ourselves
told what we thought had happened
what we saw
someone said it looked too late
before we'd even started
and the girl who cut her down
had already lived this once
this was a second one the same
why do they do that
I don't know
nobody seems able to say
but this one used shoelaces
lost consciousness
then strangled
it seems a stupid empty way to go
and today
we've been remembering that suicide
is a fleeting thought
and our job
is to see folk through
to the other side
of nothing left
worth living for
a community-based colleague
said she was thinking of us
as she drove to a home visit
halfway around a bend
she saw a mother cow
licking a baby calf
around the next
a flock of cockatoos
the biggest she's ever seen
and she thought of us
checking bedrooms and bathrooms
for people suspended
maybe dying
thought she was lucky in her work
I guess she is
tonight
I got a call from Intensive Care
family members want the possessions
the diary and phone numbers
I'll carry it all across the campus
tomorrow morning
but the shoelaces
have gone
~
-
Author:
Frank Prem (
Offline) - Published: May 4th, 2018 17:07
- Comment from author about the poem: Franks Psychiatry Pt 4 - acute observations.
- Category: Unclassified
- Views: 14
- User favorite of this poem: Laura🌻.
Offline)
Comments3
Frank,
I hope the disappearance of the shoelaces was not the foreshadowing of another sad happening!
Such pain should not have to be endured by anyone!
~Laura~
Only one by shoelace, Laura. Many other forms -both successful (as they say) and unsuccessful.
The stuff of public sector psychiatry.
Horrific!
we cant save them all.
sad.
Yes, sad and hard to deal with, onepauly.
Such a strong moving write Frank.
Thanks GF.
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