A LOVED ONE, SLIPPING

She existed -
until she slowly slipped away.
Or was she a he?
It´s all the same anyway.

Their departure tugged gently
at the fabric of daily life.
There´s nothing to be done outside of waiting
and occasionally pausing
upon a momentary reflection of the past;
a spirit of the presence,
yet removed from the present.

The "death watch" is a funny thing.
It sits like a lump in the gut.
Lethargy spawns inaction
which saps the concentration.
In the end, one is left
with a foot between two doors.

Neither one closing.
Neither one opening.