A Conversation With Death

Breif look at the impact of death on healthcare workers

A Conversation With Death

Death- I know you

I’ve touched you through others
Seen the destruction you’ve caused

Death- You are like a greedy lover

You selfishly take who and what you want
You care nothing for the hurt and pain you cause

Death- You can be cruel

I’ve heard the sobbing cries of the families
As I unhook their loved ones from the technology that has failed them

Their cries of “Why?”
Tears streaming down my cheeks
I must face them
And I have no answers to give

For all of our knowledge and all the technology
We have failed, we have lost
And Death- you have won

Death- I’ve held the babies you’ve taken

I’ve picked them up off their beds
Placed them gingerly in their mother’s arms

I’ve caressed their cold and mottled flesh
As I bathed them for the last time

I’ve kissed their tiny foreheads
Whispering “I’m so sorry we couldn’t save you”
Then I placed them in their shroud

I’ve been the one to take them on a walk
Their last one
A walk no baby should have to take
To a place no baby should have to go

A walk
To the morgue