DEATH
By Barbara Janelle M.A.
Unpublished, January 2000
I have been with animals as they left
all flight and upward bound,
joyfully free
And held their owners in my arms
and cried ‘til we both could do
no more
I held my Wimsey cat
as she demanded to leave
and watched her leap into light
In one bright moment,
my mother said, “Thank you” to me,
then moved into coma and died
I feel the fear in the wives
as their gray-haired men on pallets
go into surgery
I have seen the agony of illness
on the faces and bodies of young women
and felt the pain in their husbands and children
I recognize death
and know the fear it offers
those who stay
What is this life about?
Love – in all its many faces
and Spirit – ongoing.