The Cause of Death
Is Engraved on a Tablet
The cause of death is engraved on a tablet
No longer legible beneath tangled outgrowth
A gnarled plot hidden away in a
Cemetery of the unwashed and unknown.
The inscription notes the curable disease
A plague not uncommon, simply a casualty
Of the culture; if only a doctor
Had provided care that she might have been saved!
O Physician, why have you not heeded
The supplications of your patient for treatment?
A remedy scribbled down, “Patient, heal thyself,”
Sympathies of indifference offered through silence.
O Nurse, why do you neglect the continuous
Dings and endless flashings? You do not raise your head.
Why have you withdrawn to the peace of your breakroom
Callous to cries of languishing upon the deathbed?
The assembly stands fully in attendance
To her demise, her dying breath shortly here.
Bedpans to clean, prescriptions to administer.
But for her–unwilling to move so much as their finger.
When her name is long forgotten, her memory
Cheerfully removed from all their thoughts.
Will they mourn when their own sons and daughters
Waste away by the same affliction?
So take a turn on that neglected mangle of earth
Bear witness to the canary of blight which leaves all
Unrooted, withered, dead, cast into the fire
Behold, it is eternalized upon my gravestone.
About the Creator
LJ Pollard
As long as I can remember, I've been writing and sharing stories. Writing and storytelling, whether it be a humorous poem composed in five minutes, or an epic fantasy told over several novels, brings meaning and joy to life.
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Day 4 of Quitting
If this is how sobriety feels, maybe it’s better to go through life a little buzzed… this, along with other hits like, I want to kill myself, I wish I was dead, and I’m going to throw myself off a bridge have been the only thoughts on rotation these past few days. I promise myself that if, in a month, I still feel like this (‘this’ meaning despondent, full of rage, and simultaneously numb) I can go back to smoking. Until mid-February though? Nicotine is off the table.
By sleepy drafts5 days ago in Longevity
Comments (4)
A powerful reminder of the indifference toward human life, expressed so vividly in these lines. We are all in this world as if everything were a celebration. And when we see death on television, we think it is far away from us. Yet now they want us to sacrifice our children for the wars they create in their imagination. The vampires want us to make those fantasies real. And many of them have children of their own. Where are we? God have mercy. ❤️
This is very well written LJ. I love how you took the reader from the graveyard back to the hospital.
A very powerful and self-expressive poem that makes us think a lot.
Gosh this so heartbreaking and emotional. Loved your poem!