Mary Barnet Schiff

Poem about a husband's end

Just before you died
I slept 20 hours
after caring for a dying man
who ‘lost’ use of his legs
for 3 days before the ambulance came
caring almost 2 months
to return to find
the husband I feared had suffered long without me
had slept as he neared death
but now and then awakened lonely
Till weakened by my months’ sloth
Found me there
what seemed only hours later
To relieve all his pain
Hug him tight as he passed
Having looked..
straight into his eyes
before he gratefully lost consciousness
for the last time.
But he knew I was there
and felt my arms tight grasp
head over his heart.