six months after I left the hospital

 

I returned to the very same room

          that ward

the site of incarceration

          eerily unfamiliar

it became

the last place I saw my grandfather

clutching tightly his mask

desperately sucking the air, hoping

that life would take over.

 

Instead: the cancer was growing

gargantuan, a parasite

taking up his spaces, chasms

His eyes so frightened.

 

For the first time in my life

          I kissed him

without realising

it was goodbye.