Bedside

poem about becoming a doctor, human connection, death, grief, healing, and purpose — *Bedside*, a poem

He was reflecting on how sitting at bedside works on people and how dying can be more challenging for the living.

His recent experience with a patient's death from metastatic breast cancer brought him back to a moment in his personal life when he faced similar circumstances. A moment that catalyzed his choice to become a doctor. He felt like his life had come full circle.

He shared that his experience made him look into the more profound implications of the relationship between life and death. "Death, in many ways, ignites new life for the ones left behind."

Listener Poet D’ete Blackshire

KNN Residents

February 2024

it’s one month before the New Year begins

when I step into the room

but in the ICU

the limbs of time

aren't so defined

"when" — is a question the living dare not ask

because it hurts too much

to be close to letting go.

that kind of intimacy is only

a comfort to the dying.

Soap dispenses into my palm with a squashing sound

and heralds my arrival to the family.

all eyes shift from the patient to me.

i’m enveloped by the reverent hush.

and my gaze rests on the bedside

where a daughter’s figure curls on the couch.

she’s waiting on guard for the coming wind

to carry Mom away.

and I recall that original spark

inviting me into this sacred space;

the death that ignited

new life within me;

the moment I answered the summons to provide care

and become a doctor.

my why

escorts me back to now

with a nudge

to reach for the hands of mother and daughter

to hold each of their palms in mine

to honor this rite of passage

from first breath to last

as a crucible of living and dying

that connects us all.

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