A modest farewell.

Abstract

This poem describes a patient whose chest rises and falls, breaths as steady as ripples on a spring lake or the song of a sparrow searching for sanctuary. White linens layer on the patient's delicate frame, wrinkled in places impressed by the palms of family and strangers. The morning is still. The patient is tethered to shore by clear tubes and white lines, prattling raspy melodies into stale air. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).