The End

It came in the loneliness of night
with no one attending our needs,
save a nurse who came and went discreetly.
Illumined he was in his cot by the hovering wall-light;
while his sister, in her simplicity and ignorance,
hailed "the death rattle," and his brother,
a saint in his own right, organised the prayers.
In pairs, and on either side, and on our knees,
we interceded, until the Almighty laid claim to his soul;
and his helpmate, whose very essence was being ripped apart,
cried to Heaven.

__________

a© Cormac McCloskey