One Night in the Ward

Screams fill the room
Air heavy with desperation
A voice pleads ‘No more no more’
As the owner drowns in perspiration

Mom craves the sleep her body shuns
Needles become one with her veins
Wires connect and disconnect
There’s much to gain
She accepts the pain

The one thing they felt was theirs
They give up to those in coats of white
Loss of control
The smallest task
Something they just can’t get right

One stretches as they tell her
Agony wracking its way into sound
Another drinks ‘poison’ when they force her
Dreaming of six feet underground
Sometimes a deep sleep seems so much better…

Mother smiles her way through
She shields me from the worst of it
She doesn’t think about where she is
She tells me her dos and don’ts list

She sees red wine in injected iron
She finds humor in the tiniest gaffe
She finds strength with my arms around her
As both of us give in to the urge to laugh

The hospital is a strange place for friendship and for love
Friends show, strangers care, families don’t hesitate
The world seems so vivid when you’re trying not to give up
On a life where there’s so much left to appreciate