ChickHughes

Archive for August, 2012

To my sister, who is fighting for her life

~ My sister lost her fight on August 28, 2012

Sitting at your bedside, sterile and cold

Your blue eyes, beneath lids heavy, hide struggles untold.

Your chest’s slow rise and fall dependent on a machine’s rhythmic sound

Keeping your body with us, though your spirit, by sadness, is bound.

Can you feel me, hear me, your name I’m calling

Willing you back from wherever you’re falling.

I speak for you, to you, while you cannot

Recalling memories of old, two sisters scheme and plot.

Skipping school, dodging every rule, our secrets to keep

Times good and bad, I recite as I weep.

With your every twitch, reflex, and squeeze of my hand

Hope finds me, that you’ll fight your way from this unthinkable quicksand.

But hope is intangible, elusive, a state of mind

Vanishing as obstacles mount to keep you confined.

Gazing at your face, wondering where you are

Do you know what is happening, aware from consciousness afar.

A single tear streams down your cheek

Breaking our hearts, rendering hope bleak.

Are you struggling, hopeful, trying to fight

Or ready to give up, a silent desperate scream that we might.

Your body so tired from fighting this hell

Too tired to continue, I wonder, too sick, too frail.

Soul searching, I do, for me, for you, for reflection

Others turn to God for understanding, for direction.

Whatever the age, for comfort, the human spirit will strive

For an all powerful parental shield from life’s cruel battle to survive.

Past words, harsh actions, I regret

More patience, understanding, if one more chance, we get.

Your pain, your struggles, I would all take away

Sadness no more, only your joy, my hope, one day.

But above all, peace, I desire for you

A safe place for your heart, healing, love anew.

Whatever your thoughts, wherever you may be

I pledge you undying love; eternal sisters, are we.

~Chick Hughes