Covid has done a number on society. People are sick, people are hurt, people are dying and yes, many have died.
I have seen more than enough Covid related deaths than I would like to admit, but there’s more to just the sickness and death itself…
Some rooms share hospital beds, where two people lie in misery, a common ground for them to share together.
Where they both can visually watch each other suffer, get better or even die.
To watch someone pass with your same sickness has to put things in perspective…
Poem
In the adjacent bed, unable to speak. He leers at his inevitable outcome.
His bedmate lies dormant. His mind has gone numb.
The bedmate preps for leave.
The curtain hides his vision, sounds of plastic and cloth. Ears hyper-focused: a flame to the moth.
The curtain moves and the bed empty, a partner in misery, gone. A hand raises for goodbye, for he cannot speak, a tear falls from his eye.
Seemingly a hopeful moment gone wrong.
Bereave.
The Reticent Owl 