The house is full, but empty and cold,
He died today, not very old,
The family gathered, sat by the bed,
Soothed the moans, stroked his head.
Didn’t drink, nor did he smoke,
Dying of cancer, ironic, sick joke,
As the time drew near, he wasn’t there,
The ones ‘round the bed, left to care.
Breathing labored, struggling, long,
Small and weak, when once was so strong,
A life helping others, answering the call,
And a lump in the gut puts an end to it all.
He draws one last breath, now lying still,
Disbelief ‘round the bed, all eyes start to fill,
Silence, despair, empty looks, then a cry,
Knew he was ill, can’t believe he would die.
Although he is gone, he is still here,
Feel his presence in moments of fear,
Strong but gentle, sometimes strict, always kind,
If I follow the example, I know he won’t mind,
For he was a good man, with heart of gold,
But he died today, not very old.
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(c) 1999 William Bough Please respect the rights of the author and Passions in Poetry. If you would like to use this poem on your own web page, please contact the Author. Thank you.
This is a great poem. I love it and even though I didn't know him I wanted to cry it is really deep and you really put alot into it.
amber
i really liked your poem it really means something to me keep doing what you are doing and i write poems to but not as good as that
lacey
this poeming is really great, this person did a great job telling how they felt inside and think they should get credict for a outstanding job. thanks for lisening to what i had to say
Randall
This is such a good poem, very similure to "God Was Your Closest Friend" in content which I have posted. Death is such a hard topic to express. Very well done.
jen
your poem described exactly what it was like while one of the people we love dies
Amanda
my sister died the eighth of december and this poem just took my breath away when i read how close my sister and this man were it reminded me of her.
Jonas
I find this poem particularly moving, since it reminds me of the death of my oldest and closest friend, who died of lung cancer at the age of 36. Since I live in Sweden and he died in his homeland Ireland, I never got the chance to say farewell. This grieves me.
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