I was swimming in a stream of sounds:
Voices, motors, cars honking, whistles,
But all faded as soon as the trip was over.
Alighting from the back,
I followed with hurried steps.

While walking,
A kaleidoscope of your daily activities
Played through my mind, over and over...
Today, I didn't hear the sound of your yawning,
Also, you missed your garden visit
This early morning.....
.............you couldn't, because.............
You lay there, snoring,
So calm in your sleep.
The small bed, in a room
With that familiar smell of disinfectants....
The crumpled sheets that wrapped your body,
No fresh flowers on your bedside..
You wouldn’t have approved of all these....
But you were seemingly uncaring.
There was only the deep sound of your breathing.
I saw your chest rise and fall rhythmically.
It was cold in the room......
Your feet were getting cold, too...
I held my beads tighter.

Suddenly,
The deafening silence was disrupted.
Words I could hardly understand
Were softly uttered, the voices unrecognizable.
I rushed out of the room, down to the garden.....
But the whispers became more audible,
Blown towards my face by a gentle breeze.
Even as I sat on a secluded bench,
I heard the same things over and over,
Like a broken record.

I fled back to the room and covered my ears,
To shut out the voices.
Then I noticed, you were ominously still,
Snoring no more...............
………......breathing no more.

**** these murmurs of death!
Like a swarm of bees, they followed me,
Buzzing monotonously what  I refused to hear.
They were in their highest note....
In unison, they were
Celebrating victory......
In  cacophony...
--------------
Sally


Copyright 2013
Rosalia Rosario A. Bayan