I’ve been with you through it all:
the shock, the sadness, the disbelief.
I was there when you were breathing
by whispering, mysterious machine:
not aware of the solemnity surrounding you
like a heavy blue blanket;
neither aware of the dismal chorus screaming
through the empty and restless passages
of my mind; I was there through it all.
And now that you have to live at a slower pace –
careful, fragile and so despondent –
now that your agony and discontent
reduce you sometimes
to the enraged turbulence of a resentful child,
I am helpless, useless.
It was so much easier then to hold your quiet hand
than it is now to keep your spirit standing tall.
But I am still here despite it all, always
sitting by your side, waiting to hear
your laughter sprout again.
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Struwig, M. By your side. Intensive Care Med 41, 723 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-014-3504-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-014-3504-4