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.