We walk quickly
Down the hallways
In the absence of
Silence.
Is it possible, still
To hear you?
We walk into
curtained rooms
In the presence of…
Trying.
So hard, it seems,
To see you
We kneel on the
Blood-stained floors
As you call out –
Crying.
Your pain, we try
To feel you
We sit at our
Small, wheeled desks
And still we smell the
Dying –
Of dreams, so quick
To flee you
Yet as I walk
These hallways
In the absence of
Silence –
Your heartbeat, still
I hear you
And Christ will walk
Besides me
And we will taste His
Presence
My patient, friend
He’s with you
Photo credit: https://www.statnews.com/2020/01/24/patients-restrained-in-the-er/