I can tell you exactly when it happened. I was sat on one of those plasticy leatherette chairs. You know the ones, they have them in all hospitals, they're easy to wipe clean if someone has a little accident. I had my hand clasped about my wife's fingers and though I knew I was squeezing them too hard she didn't complain.

She, the doctor that is, or should I say consultant? Anyway, she leant in towards us and said, “I'm sorry, the cancer has spread.....

 

i died

the black grey storm clouds lifted from my eyes

and i knew every moment

was perfect

 

i lay

and a whispered movement of air caressed my dead skin

with a reflective hint

of realisation

 

i heard

the intoxicating warmth of existence in the absence

of my future want

of breath

 

i saw

the id of creation within the eternity of my son’s eyes

as he mourned

my passing

 

i touched

my lover with the corpse cold hand of my regret

recognising her beauty

and mine

 

i found

the treasures i had strived for and knew them for nought

empty and stagnant

as was i

 

i died

yet in my death never could be more alive

my resurrection was

too soon

 

.….I heard the soft sound of my wife sobbing beside me.