Turn Off The Machine

I thought to myself
long before you
Mum will die
(as Mums do)
Mum complied

And I watched
Day after Day
Year after Year
the decline

and the final hour
when I agreed
to turn off
the life support machine

there was beauty in release
a horrific way
to bring peace

I felt her relief

I still feel her relief

Yet my envy
often overwhelms me
almost as much as my grief

ae
Sep 2005