December 20
written by: David Kim
We stand around his final bed.
My mother and I sobbing,
As tears patter my father’s hospital gown
The high-pitched sound of the machine, interrupts
My mother’s sporadic yelps
The numbers, gradually descend
As alarms trigger for every dip
I place my cheeks across my father’s cold,
But moving chest.
Wrapping my arms across his lifeless arms
Stuttering my final words,
“I l-o-o-ve you”
As tears slide onto his rising torso.
A man jumps on top of my father, as the lights flash red.
He pumps my father’s chest twice,
Before I push him off.
He has fought enough.
Already brain-dead,
Dreamless sleep for 2 consecutive months.
His time has come.
My mother screams as the machine emits
A loud, singular tone
And I weep, as I try to hold my mother from crumbling on the ground
I stare, at the dark crimson blood,
Pooling in my father’s open mouth
As the staff quickly usher us away.
They violently lift and wrap the corpse
In a green vinyl sheet.
And It hits me.
Thats it.
“Shouldn’t you be in bed right now?”
“I’ll drive you to school, but only for today”
“Be nice to Ian”
“You’re not supposed to throw with the glove”
“I’m a hundred years old”
“Give me a hug”
“I love you”
- December 20 - March 12, 2024
