Autonomous
ragged breath
Broken ribs
daring death
Fixed apparatus
coursing, pumping
Held in collapse
He, the machinist, rejects
whistling, churning, turning
Vainglorious—he won’t see
she won’t be
anymore
Hobbled avian,
frozen curse
sterile light—her eyes won’t see
they plead to let her go
Still stranded
Instruments inserted—
the softest kiss
the gentle hiss
heart’s tip-tap...
no more
He stands in her silence
his voice cracking to concede
no hands to hold—
just wires, tubes, bloodied pillow,
and the hum
of a life
he cannot save.
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Indeed.