the slow gasp of suction draws breath
against a quiet morning where
light leaks in through muffled blinds
dancing on tubes and drains
tiny lanterns suspended from strings
oxygen whistles ever so slightly
a tight and careful melody
under soft beeps and sine waves
and echoes down the hall
public rehearsals in private chambers
and her lungs, how they heaved against the machine
stacking breaths against an impossible rhythm
that was music, too
and the coughing fits, a sharp staccato
and the hum of her heart, a swan song
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Sievert, A. Nocturne. J GEN INTERN MED 35, 1313 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-019-05457-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-019-05457-x