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Wasting Away
by Candace Turner

She’s gone
I’m watching her go
piece by piece

Her skin grows taut
She walks as if on wooden sticks
She casts no shadow

She is Dachau
Without the ovens

A monitor tracks the etch-a-sketch of her existence
I see the struggle

Thru the parchment of her flesh,
I watch her chest rise and fall

She opens her eyes –
I see in……….
The pain, the fear,
The sorrow, the confusion,
The Love, the regret -

I see the good-bye

I hear the steady hum advertising her departure

Her eyes are open
Mirrors echoing my wretched face

I scoop her up
I am holding dust

My body is soft and full
My heart is broken

I am holding dust




 

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