At Her Bedside
by Sarah Wagner


Her eyes still smile
Sad now seeing
How fast the light fades.

Jaundiced paper skin
Folding over itself
To display the bones.

Whir and gurgle of machines
Sounding a steady cadence
Of heart and lungs.

Dull hair fanned out
On the pyre’s pillow
Ready, awaiting the flame.

Slipping too fast to catch
More than a glimpse
Of what could have been
I am left with nothing but ashes.






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