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"icu" poems
My mother used to bake cookies with me when I was young Intricate designs of colored icing that varied with the seasons. They were always perfect and looked far to good to suffer the crime of eating. For half a century I always baked cookies for the holidays Whilst my children grew tall and independent with no apparent Interest in baking As the pale blue winter light falls into my kitchens I see myself Cutting shapes and painting colors a silhouette on the shadows of the wall. Placing the last cookie into a Christmas scene can I Arive at the hospital and sit next to her in the ICU I see her frailness the alarm in her eyes as she recognises me But is yet unable to enunciate her thoughts. Silence as loud as thunder fills the room the seams of the walls are stretched to their limits. The outer limits beep of the monitor acknowleging her heartbeats Counting down each one until the last. I miss our intimacy in that long ago kitchen And  the random thought enters my mind I am her only child and she is my only mother. The monitor rings an alarm a code blue Signalling the end of her like the end of a football match. I feel the loss of her like a razor blade cutting my flesh. And as I leave her for the last time There seems to be a a mortality in the measured unknown days ahead and the cans of cookies yet to be baked.
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Jul 30, 2018
Jul 30, 2018 at 2:04 PM UTC
Baking with my mother
I twist and turn, Suffle in my Hospital bed. The drum of The dextrose drops, Plays as the background For my despondent lulluby. Clickering and clackering; The white feet On the frozen Hospital floor Feature the vocals Of the weeping relatives I do not know. A chorus Of morose songs That bellow From the valley Of faded faces Dulls the senses Of the patients In the ICU. Doctors wearing White garbs With darkened eyes Whisper to each other Like a cult gathering With prayers And curses On their lips. They appear To me Like snakes On the tree Throwing sins And travesties To the Invalid saints. I, fight fervently Against sleep. Although almost Twenty-four, Am a child Again. A child who Detests sleep Like the plague That took me. In this hospital bed I start my vigil; A pilgrim to zion Daunted by The task before him. Beset on all sides By treasures And trinkets That would Want him stray. My eyes serve As the lamp To which My body, A servant, Keeps alight. In wait For the return Of the master. An encounter To rekindle The bond In childhood. A chance To decide Which fashion It will end. So eyes, Stay alight, For your oil Will only Last one night; Keep the fight. Despondency May fill these Final moments But at the moment Of the master's Return The chorus Of faded faces Will turn into Choirs of angels And there; Sleep.
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Nov 5, 2014
Nov 5, 2014 at 8:42 AM UTC
Sleep
we were at the hospital the other day on acid saw some people that looked subhuman started thinking those thoughts like how i would **** them and get rid of all of them the acid talking i breathed and stepped out of the hospital to breathe no smoking sign telling me i can't do that right here fresh air is near over here by the flowers i smoked a girl with purple hair around me very near "is that your peoples?" no no no laughing i don't know why he thought she was with me we were just staring fading tripping the flowers looked 3D the bee inside looked like some **** from planet earth i heard it there first my first trip a visit to see a friend struggling to breathe while we smoke out front walked into icu with a blunt celebrating life thinking about memories and how they make us rely on what we know and remember to tell us the future but it's really what we make it we can create new break down barriers break down the walls make new paths in the brain heal recover breathe stronger the next day
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Jul 7, 2013
Jul 7, 2013 at 3:24 AM UTC
Acid at ICU
yesterday my feet rested comfortably on the bar of someone else's chair and my eyelids slid heavy and the world seemed slow a graph of survivorship curves glowing blurry on the whiteboard and then words slid from behind a neatly trimmed white beard ". . . .as our bodies are programmed to die." as our bodies are programmed to die. *thousands of miles away one gleaming thought against a murky sky (that's how i imagine it anyway--murky, cold, stagnant air) a frantic explosion of lean muscle power and a body launching into the lake. he was 17 and in that moment gears somewhere in this world shifted, numbers were crunched and some profound device processed the seconds, linking and unlinking them with an automatic, well-oiled certainty he was 17 and the number on his football jersey suited him like wool socks on winter feet his stride under the lights a weekly prize to all hungry, bleacher-ed, washed-up life-hunters bundled against october-night chill-streaked skies they drank hot cocoa and he took three sips of gatorade he was 17 and his smile and his curls and we all hear about hospitals but this feels different because he was 17 and suddenly, instantaneously his body was just a beep and his skin turned the color of the walls first the ICU painted quick brushstrokes across his wrists then it stopped giving a **** at all and the water rushed endlessly, heartlessly. when I shift through memories and find his seven-year old face in my mind, i remember a gap where he'd lost a front tooth and i remember sunlight streaming behind his hair it was valentine's day and he gave me a small smile and a silver charm bracelet in a powder blue box.* i shifted my feet heard the snap of a binder closing and all i could think about was the oversimplification of words and survivorship curves and 17 years and and piles of numbers spurting from a computer and an echo of a splash.
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Sep 25, 2014
Sep 25, 2014 at 4:32 PM UTC
biology
yesterday my feet rested comfortably on the bar of someone else's chair and my eyelids slid heavy and the world seemed slow a graph of survivorship curves glowing blurry on the whiteboard and then words slid from behind a neatly trimmed white beard ". . . .as our bodies are programmed to die." as our bodies are programmed to die. *thousands of miles away one gleaming thought against a murky sky (that's how i imagine it anyway--murky, cold, stagnant air) a frantic explosion of lean muscle power and a body launching into the lake. he was 17 and in that moment gears somewhere in this world shifted, numbers were crunched and some profound device processed the seconds, linking and unlinking them with an automatic, well-oiled certainty he was 17 and the number on his football jersey suited him like wool socks on winter feet his stride under the lights a weekly prize to all hungry, bleacher-ed, washed-up life-hunters bundled against october-night chill-streaked skies they drank hot cocoa and he took three sips of gatorade he was 17 and his smile and his curls and we all hear about hospitals but this feels different because he was 17 and suddenly, instantaneously his body was just a beep and his skin turned the color of the walls first the ICU painted quick brushstrokes across his wrists then it stopped giving a **** at all and the water rushed endlessly, heartlessly. when I shift through memories and find his seven-year old face in my mind, i remember a gap where he'd lost a front tooth and i remember sunlight streaming behind his hair it was valentine's day and he gave me a small smile and a silver charm bracelet in a powder blue box.* i shifted my feet heard the snap of a binder closing and all i could think about was the oversimplification of words and survivorship curves and 17 years and and piles of numbers spurting from a computer and an echo of a splash.
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So many lies from her to me please don't tell him I'm pregnant I was ***** she told the clinic and me the baby seems big for three months..... but clinics get money for this and charities give grants they don't ask too many questions 6 hrs crying and screaming till they chopped it up and ****** it through a young doctor panicking haven't destroyed one this big before have you you **** took a long hooked thing to really mess the wee thing up I saw it's dead eyes in the pan her dead eyes half-open and in a silent scream where is the ******* dad? The nurse whispered.. somewhere ****** I said, I'm just her pal. Dad didn't want a small thing in his life my hands bled from her nails and this felt right my heart bled despair for her and the mess in the pan took her home in a taxi suspicious eyes on us, huddled smelling of sweat and blood, no clean-up she wanted to stay as soiled as she felt Year later in another room couldn't *** she wouldn't let me leave her got a urinary infection holding on longer this time thirteen hours of pain and fright no-one seemed to care again on a trolly in the cold where is the magic where is the ******* dad? A nurse whispered.. somewhere ****** I am just her pal. twisting my hands she bit my face wanting a kiss as she pushed so hard the midwife dropped him halfway up her belly I dragged him to her face let go the doctor shouted told him to shut up or **** off got yellow baby **** and blood in my mouth wanted doctor blood too tasted sweet somehow tasted of alive took 83 sedatives that night  her sister found me in ICU hard to die swap me for the wee dead one I'm ****** she would have been special saw her face She would have been 14 yrs old today
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Jan 17, 2011
Jan 17, 2011 at 2:39 PM UTC
Termination Birth
So many lies from her to me please don't tell him I'm pregnant I was ***** she told the clinic and me the baby seems big for three months..... but clinics get money for this and charities give grants they don't ask too many questions 6 hrs crying and screaming till they chopped it up and ****** it through a young doctor panicking haven't destroyed one this big before have you you **** took a long hooked thing to really mess the wee thing up I saw it's dead eyes in the pan her dead eyes half-open and in a silent scream where is the ******* dad? The nurse whispered.. somewhere ****** I said, I'm just her pal. Dad didn't want a small thing in his life my hands bled from her nails and this felt right my heart bled despair for her and the mess in the pan took her home in a taxi suspicious eyes on us, huddled smelling of sweat and blood, no clean-up she wanted to stay as soiled as she felt Year later in another room couldn't *** she wouldn't let me leave her got a urinary infection holding on longer this time thirteen hours of pain and fright no-one seemed to care again on a trolly in the cold where is the magic where is the ******* dad? A nurse whispered.. somewhere ****** I am just her pal. twisting my hands she bit my face wanting a kiss as she pushed so hard the midwife dropped him halfway up her belly I dragged him to her face let go the doctor shouted told him to shut up or **** off got yellow baby **** and blood in my mouth wanted doctor blood too tasted sweet somehow tasted of alive took 83 sedatives that night  her sister found me in ICU hard to die swap me for the wee dead one I'm ****** she would have been special saw her face She would have been 14 yrs old today
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Have you ever loved someone with bird bones paper thin skin irises like pooling blood on a tile floor Have you ever loved someone who wears their heart on their sleeve in the way of a tattoo Have you ever loved someone like you wish their arms had heavy locks so that you could keep them wrapped around you until you grew tired of their embrace Have you ever loved someone like dripping IV bags ICU at 2 am Ever loved someone like laying on the carpet in pain watch the shadows on their face change see the door open and close these days the sunlight always looks the same Ever loved someone like dark circles under their eyes Ever loved someone like you wish to wear them like a necklace have them tied up in a locket Ever loved someone like I would take a bullet for you
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Apr 22, 2014
Apr 22, 2014 at 10:52 AM UTC
Bad Disease
Two weeks ago I got in an accident while mountain biking. I broke my collar bone and fractured my sternum. Abrasions covered my back, my hip had a puncture wound that turned into a hematoma and was swollen 2inches (I couldn't wear pants for a full week). I hit the ground with such force that air was forced out of my lungs and into the sack around my heart. I spent 18 hours in the ICU and three more days in the hospital after. A long time ago I crashed. I crashed after you left. My ribs were caving in and making it hurt to breath, my cheeks burned, I swore to god my heart was never going to be okay again. The pain in my chest was incredible. The worst pain I have ever felt was when you left. I flew over my handle bars two weeks ago and rolled down the mountain and still your absence hurts me more.
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Jun 28, 2015
Jun 28, 2015 at 7:44 PM UTC
I Crashed
I’m thinking about the doctor's hands shaking as she                                                struggles to intubate a cat.   I’m thinking about the technician's hands squeezing the cat’s rib cage, pulsing life with a delicate force; she is much more gentle than                                                       practitioners are with humans— hard and quick down with the palms; the ribs snapping,                                                                      the sternum sore.   Some time ago an 80-year-old woman on my unit was opened up bedside for a cardiac procedure during a code.   After a week in ICU, she came back to us on the unit, was up and walking and talking, and was discharged home within another week. Meanwhile, the 60-year-old man was dead in the morgue        after a 45-minute code failed to resuscitate him.   The flip of the coin.  The thin line.  The blessing or the curse.   The absolute darkness of a body bag.  The cold chill of absolute zero.   The fresco painted on the catacomb walls could either depict the light of the sun or the multicolored lights that the brain shoots off minutes before death.                                                                          The eleventh hour,                                                                   isn’t that what it’s called?   We don’t want to talk about body care, death care.   We have to, but it won’t register.                                                               After a loss, after a trauma,                                                                    we are on autopilot.   I think of my mother,                                         six feet beneath frozen soil in                                       a pink padded casket and think:                                                                                              I don’t want that. I think of the prearranged plots my grandparents picked out next to her in an above ground crypt and think:                                                                                              I don’t want that. Bacteria still causes decay after the embalming process.   Putrefied flesh.  Bones visible.  Muscles eaten.  Tissues disintegrated.   We don’t talk about it.   We try to think the opposite.  The positive vs the negative.   (But that’s not always possible or healthy.) I’m thinking about hands inserting IVs, hands taking blood pressures, hands documenting the code notes on a clipboard in the back of the room.   I couldn’t do these things.                                                  My hands tend to break what they touch.   The glass bowl in the pet store.                                  The clay project in art class.                                                               The succulents, the basil, the orchid. I’m good at things I don’t have to think about: good at the autopilot, good at the autonomic,                                                                                     good at trauma.
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Nov 19, 2020
Nov 19, 2020 at 2:47 AM UTC
It’s Not Fight, It’s Not Flight, It’s Freeze
I’m thinking about the doctor's hands shaking as she                                                struggles to intubate a cat.   I’m thinking about the technician's hands squeezing the cat’s rib cage, pulsing life with a delicate force; she is much more gentle than                                                       practitioners are with humans— hard and quick down with the palms; the ribs snapping,                                                                      the sternum sore.   Some time ago an 80-year-old woman on my unit was opened up bedside for a cardiac procedure during a code.   After a week in ICU, she came back to us on the unit, was up and walking and talking, and was discharged home within another week. Meanwhile, the 60-year-old man was dead in the morgue        after a 45-minute code failed to resuscitate him.   The flip of the coin.  The thin line.  The blessing or the curse.   The absolute darkness of a body bag.  The cold chill of absolute zero.   The fresco painted on the catacomb walls could either depict the light of the sun or the multicolored lights that the brain shoots off minutes before death.                                                                          The eleventh hour,                                                                   isn’t that what it’s called?   We don’t want to talk about body care, death care.   We have to, but it won’t register.                                                               After a loss, after a trauma,                                                                    we are on autopilot.   I think of my mother,                                         six feet beneath frozen soil in                                       a pink padded casket and think:                                                                                              I don’t want that. I think of the prearranged plots my grandparents picked out next to her in an above ground crypt and think:                                                                                              I don’t want that. Bacteria still causes decay after the embalming process.   Putrefied flesh.  Bones visible.  Muscles eaten.  Tissues disintegrated.   We don’t talk about it.   We try to think the opposite.  The positive vs the negative.   (But that’s not always possible or healthy.) I’m thinking about hands inserting IVs, hands taking blood pressures, hands documenting the code notes on a clipboard in the back of the room.   I couldn’t do these things.                                                  My hands tend to break what they touch.   The glass bowl in the pet store.                                  The clay project in art class.                                                               The succulents, the basil, the orchid. I’m good at things I don’t have to think about: good at the autopilot, good at the autonomic,                                                                                     good at trauma.
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*(A message to you Inspired by the THR Family)* You came to us sick, frightened, confused What happened next became international news. We saw you so ill, with everything to lose Our goal was to help you because that’s what we do. Alone in a dark ICU room We fought for your life, our team and you. We cared for you kindly No matter our fear You thanked us each time that we came near. As each day pressed on, you fought so hard To beat the virus that dealt every card. No matter how sick or contagious you were We held your hand, wiped your tears, and continued our care. Your family was close, but only in spirit They couldn't come in; we just couldn't risk it. Then the day came we saw you in there We wiped tears from your eyes, knowing the end was drawing near. Then it was time, but we never gave up Until the good lord told us he had taken you up. Our dear Mr. Duncan, the man that we knew Though you lost the fight, we never gave up on you. All of us here; at Presby and beyond Lift our hats off to you, now that you’re gone. You touched us in ways that no one will know We thank you kind sir for this chance to grow. May you find peace in heaven above And know that we cared with nothing but love. *~  postscript. this poem is not mine; it was penned by a nurse who wishes to remain anonymous. it spoke to me of the passion with which so many, many caregivers serve, so i wanted to share it with you, and in so doing salute each of those who serve us all in the medical community.   the following was published by ABC News on 10/20/14: "The last nurse to leave the hospital room where Thomas Eric Duncan died has written a poem about the Ebola patient, penned during the sleepless days after Duncan's death, a source told ABC News.The Associated Press. The source provided the poem to ABC News, noting that the nurse who wrote it asked to remain anonymous. Duncan, the first person in the United States to be diagnosed with Ebola, died at the Dallas hospital on Oct. 8. Two of the nurses who cared for Duncan -- Nina Pham, 26, and Amber Vinson, 29, have been diagnosed with Ebola.(Editor's note: THR refers to Texas Health Resources, the company that owns Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.)"*
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Oct 21, 2014
Oct 21, 2014 at 3:06 AM UTC
Goodbye Mr. Duncan
*(A message to you Inspired by the THR Family)* You came to us sick, frightened, confused What happened next became international news. We saw you so ill, with everything to lose Our goal was to help you because that’s what we do. Alone in a dark ICU room We fought for your life, our team and you. We cared for you kindly No matter our fear You thanked us each time that we came near. As each day pressed on, you fought so hard To beat the virus that dealt every card. No matter how sick or contagious you were We held your hand, wiped your tears, and continued our care. Your family was close, but only in spirit They couldn't come in; we just couldn't risk it. Then the day came we saw you in there We wiped tears from your eyes, knowing the end was drawing near. Then it was time, but we never gave up Until the good lord told us he had taken you up. Our dear Mr. Duncan, the man that we knew Though you lost the fight, we never gave up on you. All of us here; at Presby and beyond Lift our hats off to you, now that you’re gone. You touched us in ways that no one will know We thank you kind sir for this chance to grow. May you find peace in heaven above And know that we cared with nothing but love. *~  postscript. this poem is not mine; it was penned by a nurse who wishes to remain anonymous. it spoke to me of the passion with which so many, many caregivers serve, so i wanted to share it with you, and in so doing salute each of those who serve us all in the medical community.   the following was published by ABC News on 10/20/14: "The last nurse to leave the hospital room where Thomas Eric Duncan died has written a poem about the Ebola patient, penned during the sleepless days after Duncan's death, a source told ABC News.The Associated Press. The source provided the poem to ABC News, noting that the nurse who wrote it asked to remain anonymous. Duncan, the first person in the United States to be diagnosed with Ebola, died at the Dallas hospital on Oct. 8. Two of the nurses who cared for Duncan -- Nina Pham, 26, and Amber Vinson, 29, have been diagnosed with Ebola.(Editor's note: THR refers to Texas Health Resources, the company that owns Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.)"*
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Dear Poet Friends, this short poem was composed during the Summer of 2010, and posted on ‘Poemhunter.com’. Hope you like it. Thanks. WHEN YOU CATCH THAT FEVER! When the body temperature exceeds the normal, You know you have got the fever on you. High fever can get you in a delirium, And even inside the ICU! One must guard oneself from the Summer’s sun, Take precaution from exhaustion and heat. Wear dark glasses and use a parasol, And sun-tan lotion makes the picture complete. ‘Prevention is half the cure’, is an old saying which is true! With cool butter milk and iced lemonades, - You can keep that heat off you! Now there is another type of fever, more potent than that ‘Swine Flu’! It can strike you anywhere and anytime, And you cannot take adequate precautions too! When your heart starts to beat faster, - And a fever rages all inside. You get melancholic and delirious, - When someone calls the doctor by your bedside! But when no temperature gets recorded, And the doctor looks all concerned! For you have caught the 'Love’s Fever', - Oh, what a lovely way to burn!                                      -Raj Nandy, New Delhi (Comments from Fay Slims, a senior & a veteran poet from Cornwall, SW England:-  “Raj, catching that fever is never avoided by those who have given their heart!”)
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Jun 16, 2016
Jun 16, 2016 at 9:24 AM UTC
WHEN YOU CATCH THAT FEVER!
had a picture of dad on my nightstand it fell not too long ago but landed upright atop his shoe shine box that I kept its new position not precarious I let it stay there thought it was kinda fitting a picture from his older years taken in the kitchen looking up into the camera from the task at hand peeling boiled potatoes for potato salad my potato peelin' pop morning sun shine spot lights that picture warm, smiling, reassuring mom's back in ICU now transferred to rehab with high hopes bleeding, unresponsive cardiac arrest en route back to ER x-rays, CT scans transfusions, blood draws, ventilator endoscopy? colonoscopy? dialysis? quality of life questions the more I watch her the more I wonder How I wish pop could tell us what to do
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Sep 22, 2014
Sep 22, 2014 at 4:40 AM UTC
MOM AND POP
On a busy downtown corner As the traffic passes by Stands a man with a cardboard sign Can't seem to look me in the eye But he's going to live, forever, somewhere So help me God I've got to show him How much you care At a big bank on wall street With its fancy marble floors Walks in a man in a business suit As his chauffeur holds the door But he's going to live, forever, somewhere So help me God I've got to show him How much you care Every face that I pass by I see you on the cross Bearing all our guilt and sin Not one of us should be lost I'm going to take this message Of love that I've found And somehow share it with this world So help me God In a courtroom with its wooden chairs Sits a little boy and girl Their mom and dad are fighting Their little eyes so scared But their going to live, forever, somewhere So help me God I've got to show them How much you care On the third floor up in ICU With a bandage on his head He may not make it till tomorrow Was the last thing the doctor said But he's going to live, forever, somewhere So help me God I've Got to show him How much you care Every face that I pass by I  see you on the cross Baring all my guilt and sin Not one of us should be lost I'm going to take this message Of love that I've found And somehow share it with this world So help me God
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Apr 11, 2014
Apr 11, 2014 at 5:22 AM UTC
So Help Me God
A different kind of cold settled in them as they poured through the door into the bleak grandiosity of the lobby. A group of grievers: Her ashen husband and their two daughters, 12 and 20, Her two sisters dressed in black fleece and Her mother with freshly bruised knees. The night was agonizingly short once they arrived. Prayer and hope for rehabilitation between questions about resuscitation. Her mother clung to the cruel Almighty While Her husband clenched his fists at the chaplain. A Stroke of an instant induced a transformation of lives as Hers ended beneath the blinding fluorescence.
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Dec 3, 2011
Dec 3, 2011 at 4:03 AM UTC
A Scene from the ICU
He reads and watches. When he gets this phone call. Wife in the ICU. His mirrored face is shattered on the sideline. Hair matted against his forehead, From the same dream every night. Let his mirrored tears falls to the ground and shatter on the sideline. Watch everything live on. Let him not let go. Will he come around to watch the game? Will he ever come around the right corner? Falls to the ground. And we all listen to his screams be shattered on the sideline.
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Jan 13, 2011
Jan 13, 2011 at 9:00 AM UTC
Shattered On The Sideline
My heart flat lined today. No ICU needed. it's the only way to go on. Transformer Cimi Death my other name says my Mayan zodiac birth chart and I go flat, in a terrible amnesic shock. when reality hits I no longer remember nor feel pain I am sustained by a strange heart rhythm beat. I did it once before very long time ago and it worked for years. phychogenic amnesia There's no feeling no love no hate no hope no dreams no waiting for love to be real. No bridal chambers no gold key exists to open this gold lock. My cave of wonders is sealed. In essence it's another kind of passing on. I need it here, not to stay flat on line. ~~~~~~ By: KArijinbba 8--2021
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Aug 26, 2021
Aug 26, 2021 at 2:29 AM UTC
Heart- less
Your sleek real smooth How you sleeked into me Into my mind,I shared my thoughts Into my body,this fingers sinned forth Into my soul,this fragile broken frost We played games different games though I played wanting only you You played wanting the whole crew Only I couldn't see we were playing differently Only I was borderline stupid to fall this hard Even this nose ring didn't hurt this much Neither did this tattoo no not this much What is it your looking for? What is it you want from this crew? All this hate that was spewing from this crew You knew the reason,while I  was hanging on being love struck(stupid) You just sent me to this ICU bed like my twin You just plucked me off your bed of lies Spero tu ottenere che cosa tu siamo ricerca per I really did love you but its time for me to wake up Don't worry I'll remove your thorns from my back You just turn this heart into stone
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Sep 20, 2018
Sep 20, 2018 at 9:56 AM UTC
*******
Sunny day in June, the tenth to be exact The horrible day my sister was attacked Beth was in the house, her friend Mark outside She was cleaning,he in the yard kept with pride Beth Anne was on hands and knees scrubbing the floor When she heard real gunshots, at least she swore Snuck to the window and peered out with care On the rocky driveway, saw Mark sprawled out there Been shot three times in his back,lay in his blood Beth saw her ex...with a .38 he stood While terrified, behind the aquarium she ducked Brad blundered in dressed in hunters camouflage- **** Her heart hammering in her ears, bursts of short breaths Saw him through the murky water, planning two deaths Beth Anne cowered down praying to her dear Lord He found her, pulled her up by the hair, fired once more The bullet blew off her ear and traveled on down Collapsed her lungs, in her blood she would drown Brad disappeared and the firing just stopped For Mexico he fled, red ranger with white top Beth dragged herself the complete length of the rug Called 911, shed been shot...head ringing from slug She was determined to live, wouldn't give up the fight But then she passed out endangering her plight Came the Greeley police, fire trucks, EMT's Assessed the situation, perp further he flees They all worked on Mark, too late he was dead One smart responder....woman shot in the head They spreading out rushed the house, found my sis Beth was unresponsive, victim almost missed Speeding to Weld County General, sirens blaring Got her in the ER cut off what she was wearing O.R. She went with damage extensive Not much hope, docs and staff apprehensive For many hours they sawed, pinned, stitched and closed The ICU threat of infection posed Her body and face were unrecognizable Family stood believing the impossible Appeared an Adonis with blonde hair and blue eyes Talk of afterlife evidently not lies Her guardian angel told Beth he was there Would appear much later, in death they would share
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Sep 14, 2013
Sep 14, 2013 at 6:47 PM UTC
The Monster In Camouflage
Sunny day in June, the tenth to be exact The horrible day my sister was attacked Beth was in the house, her friend Mark outside She was cleaning,he in the yard kept with pride Beth Anne was on hands and knees scrubbing the floor When she heard real gunshots, at least she swore Snuck to the window and peered out with care On the rocky driveway, saw Mark sprawled out there Been shot three times in his back,lay in his blood Beth saw her ex...with a .38 he stood While terrified, behind the aquarium she ducked Brad blundered in dressed in hunters camouflage- **** Her heart hammering in her ears, bursts of short breaths Saw him through the murky water, planning two deaths Beth Anne cowered down praying to her dear Lord He found her, pulled her up by the hair, fired once more The bullet blew off her ear and traveled on down Collapsed her lungs, in her blood she would drown Brad disappeared and the firing just stopped For Mexico he fled, red ranger with white top Beth dragged herself the complete length of the rug Called 911, shed been shot...head ringing from slug She was determined to live, wouldn't give up the fight But then she passed out endangering her plight Came the Greeley police, fire trucks, EMT's Assessed the situation, perp further he flees They all worked on Mark, too late he was dead One smart responder....woman shot in the head They spreading out rushed the house, found my sis Beth was unresponsive, victim almost missed Speeding to Weld County General, sirens blaring Got her in the ER cut off what she was wearing O.R. She went with damage extensive Not much hope, docs and staff apprehensive For many hours they sawed, pinned, stitched and closed The ICU threat of infection posed Her body and face were unrecognizable Family stood believing the impossible Appeared an Adonis with blonde hair and blue eyes Talk of afterlife evidently not lies Her guardian angel told Beth he was there Would appear much later, in death they would share
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(This is a true story) Working in the ICU, on the graveyard shift, Paul here's your admission, into bed we must lift. I had overlooked the name while taking report, The past was calling, she was an old cohort. My beautiful Linda, five years together, We'd still be a couple except for her daughter Heather. I couldn't win over the child, tried though I might, She wanted her father, always an uphill fight. So my friend, my love, my perfect mate, Parted company, feelings of pain and sorrow, never of hate. Time marches on and the years rolled by, Less were Linda tears shed that I needed to dry. Back in the ICU, esophageal varicies was her fate. Alcoholism eroded her neck veins, death couldn't wait. She looked up at me, smiled and said, I never stopped loving you, always in my head. The ***** helped dull the pain and regret, Without it your recollection did constantly beset, And into my life left a gargantuan hole, Not just in my body, into my eternal soul. I have to go now God's calling my name, As she grabbed my hand her strength did wane. Great efforts were taken, for life we do strive, Compressing her chest didn't keep her alive. Prepared her body I did clean and did wrap, Placed her into a shroud, my strength this did sap. I finished my shift and went on my way, Her sweet warm memories caressed me that day. Dearest Linda I hope you found peace, My love for you never will cease. Please visit poemsbypaul.com
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Sep 20, 2013
Sep 20, 2013 at 12:24 PM UTC
Linda
The eyes are there again egging for inspection. Look me in the face and lose your muse discretion. The weight it bears ill prepared to flow without repression. To know there is a place where the lion sleeps moans and mimes the holes, they blind. Not a thing in mind......... Get out of my mind. Out of my mind something I force.... farce..... Faust...
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Dec 27, 2010
Dec 27, 2010 at 10:24 PM UTC
ICU
Crept in the surgeon from the ashen winds Peaceful, baleful autumn fire A descent climbing ever higher. A special case to him it seemed, starched white His breathy steam corroborated. The nurses rush ‘tween bed and **** checking Vitals of lacking that but the enigma Curiouser and, oh, the blank screen displayed it. There, as sight, the network of bones, all disposed To their center, by blood and vein, all there through. What caught the eye, a screaming white blot In the thick of his bare cavity A cold urn, well wrought Had in its mouth a thousand streaming shards Burning, pumping all the same by some miracle That rigid effaced youth and flesh Taking its gestalt’s place. A nurse approach in ample fit to begin, Crack his stern starch baritone, there he burst Take him away; nothing is wrong Amateur at best, irreclaimable at worst.
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Sep 18, 2014
Sep 18, 2014 at 12:46 AM UTC
ICU
Eighty years young Speaking in tounge Your body fought Head full of bizarre thought Arms and legs restrained How are you not frightened Are they violent, Yah? We tried, everything, for the shake of your revival I can't bear to see you like this I wish you are dismiss Heavily sedated & exhausted To tired to wrestled & agitated Lord please take his pain away
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Apr 9, 2022
Apr 9, 2022 at 7:40 AM UTC
ICU delirium
I've been to all ends of the earth looking for you but you are not direction I searched the sky for you but you are not a constellation I looked to the sea but you are not the waves When I searched the trees I was disappointed by your absence but you are not a bird I looked under the ground but you are not the roots of the pines I dissected every line I ever wrote but you are not a collection of words When I listened to the wind I couldn't help myself and I tried to hear you but you are not a whisper Screaming in caves creates company but you are not an echo I gathered a crew and set sail in treacherous weather but you are not a lighthouse I've heard the floor boards squeak and the walls moan but you are not a house This car has carried me for ninety five thousand miles but you are not the highway I climbed to the tops of mountains but you are not a feeling of victory With thoughts of warmth I struck a match and lit the woods on fire but you are not heat I stood alone in the night watching the snow fall but you are not the cold Hundreds of hours spent in the ICU have proven I am sick but you are not the antidote I melted thousands of renown paintings but you are not inspiration Millions of scientific advances have been torn apart but you are not understanding I've searched the words of prophets philosophers and teachers but you are not wisdom They drew blood from my veins but you are not life A psychic read my mind but you are not thought I visited with inventors but you are not an idea But the day she ripped my heart out of my chest I found you nestled inside safe and sound And it dawned on me that you are my sunshine ~W.C.
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Jan 26, 2014
Jan 26, 2014 at 3:02 PM UTC
You Are Not
I've been to all ends of the earth looking for you but you are not direction I searched the sky for you but you are not a constellation I looked to the sea but you are not the waves When I searched the trees I was disappointed by your absence but you are not a bird I looked under the ground but you are not the roots of the pines I dissected every line I ever wrote but you are not a collection of words When I listened to the wind I couldn't help myself and I tried to hear you but you are not a whisper Screaming in caves creates company but you are not an echo I gathered a crew and set sail in treacherous weather but you are not a lighthouse I've heard the floor boards squeak and the walls moan but you are not a house This car has carried me for ninety five thousand miles but you are not the highway I climbed to the tops of mountains but you are not a feeling of victory With thoughts of warmth I struck a match and lit the woods on fire but you are not heat I stood alone in the night watching the snow fall but you are not the cold Hundreds of hours spent in the ICU have proven I am sick but you are not the antidote I melted thousands of renown paintings but you are not inspiration Millions of scientific advances have been torn apart but you are not understanding I've searched the words of prophets philosophers and teachers but you are not wisdom They drew blood from my veins but you are not life A psychic read my mind but you are not thought I visited with inventors but you are not an idea But the day she ripped my heart out of my chest I found you nestled inside safe and sound And it dawned on me that you are my sunshine ~W.C.
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white roses and Jacob's Coat purple bearded irises and ferns dark red wax begonias scents of night jasmine French lavender antique tea roses loquat, plum, guava and lemon trees all swaying with an ocean breeze casting shadows in the setting sun memories of childhood bamboo and nipa houses coconut groves and fragrant banana witches, faeries and wok-woks a favorite white haired grandfather living off land and sea harvesting root crops and fruit fishing for viand barefoot and ******* sarongs in a private paradise miles from town bonfire festivities tuba wine and drunken salamats an open adoption a house tiled with affluence and visits back home a war's interruption people lost or found married off to life in America lumpia, pancit, beefsteak and beeco spaghetti, burgers, *** roast and pizza dinner's table set for eleven the house on Wagner street the loss of husband and son advancing age and declining health ER's and ICU's a final farewell a garden of children grand children and great grand children branches in Lala's family tree her progeny sprouting roots looking to the future
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Oct 7, 2014
Oct 7, 2014 at 9:56 PM UTC
LALA'S GARDEN
Good morning, my love. I didn't mean to stare. I was just envying the pillow beneath your head, and the sheets that envelop you in their comforting warmth. While you were off In surreal realities That shapeshift into truths I was waiting here, Watching your every move. Good morning, my love. Know that every waking moment Is the miracle That brings you home to me.
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Apr 27, 2012
Apr 27, 2012 at 8:39 PM UTC
I See You (ICU)
The only time I had had *********** I now remember fully each detail, She had told me to get off prematurely. The girl was on the defensive mode, I perfectly remember how she fumbled, She was nervous if I emptied my load. The way she requested me next day, I can remember it with bittersweet hue, She said, "Don't marry anyone else." The fate had wished something else, I met with a really serious road accident, She used to visit me then in the ICU. The injured me was in a comatose state, I was told that she often used to visit me, She surprises me as a guardian angel. The injured me could remember it not, I was looked after by the dark angel how, She wiped forehead sweat from fever hot. The surgeon in charge of my treatment, I was told by him as well of how she cared, She used to summon him oftentimes. The girl told my mother about both of us, I was just her best friend she told my mom, She named my ex- as my then girlfriend. The girl asked me on phone desperately, If I could remember about the Agra trip, She was just disappointed with my reply. The girl is now married to someone, I had killed the relationship between us, She knows not I remembered it not. Perhaps I should accept it now, I would have to be alone forever, Now that I remember all of it.
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Nov 4, 2016
Nov 4, 2016 at 7:56 AM UTC
Coitus Interruptus