Re: Not even bread and water
Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 12:53 pm
Hi Colm,
I read the ricocheting bullet as regret that the last wish by a dying man to end his suffering could not or rather would not be fulfilled. That unfired act of mercy speaks to anyone who has stood by helpless while death lingers. It's a dilemma. I had an aunt who was suffering mightily on her death bed after a life-long ordeal of living with cerebral palsy. She was given an intravenous dose of morphine in the company of her family and died within minutes. We knew.
Contrast that with someone who dies by degrees and nothing can be done but the possibility of some terrible abuses of what should be a compassionate act. No matter which route it's a hard hard thing to contemplate.
Some poems are like a biblical parable meant to set up a tension in the mind of one who tries to make sense of the choices or ways of seeing the dilemma, pithy and open ended--yours is a fine example. Wonderful poem.
I read the ricocheting bullet as regret that the last wish by a dying man to end his suffering could not or rather would not be fulfilled. That unfired act of mercy speaks to anyone who has stood by helpless while death lingers. It's a dilemma. I had an aunt who was suffering mightily on her death bed after a life-long ordeal of living with cerebral palsy. She was given an intravenous dose of morphine in the company of her family and died within minutes. We knew.
Contrast that with someone who dies by degrees and nothing can be done but the possibility of some terrible abuses of what should be a compassionate act. No matter which route it's a hard hard thing to contemplate.
Some poems are like a biblical parable meant to set up a tension in the mind of one who tries to make sense of the choices or ways of seeing the dilemma, pithy and open ended--yours is a fine example. Wonderful poem.