Saturday 3 February 2018

Euthanise Me

Circus, Budapest, 19 May 1920
Andre Kersetz

Intensive interventions required:
thread in the needle,
fix in the line,
feed me my poison,
show me you care.

Death has remarkable beauty
a wonderful exit,
though I can’t claim experience.

Show me your mercy,
feed me my poison,
kill me with kindness.

I have rights y’know,     You Don’t!
Conscientious objectors have no place in medicine.

Anna :o]

Kerry at Real Toads offered the above image as a prompt, advising:  This challenge comes with a wide angle and any filter of your choosing. 

And thus ‘I see you’ became ICU, and this article I had not long read at BioEdge threw itself in the mix, resulting in the above.  Cheers for the inspiration Kerry!

Also entered at Joy's 55 – although it would read better with 56…  Cheers Joy!

22 comments:

Gillena Cox said...

Very interesting response Anna

much love...

Sanaa Rizvi said...

Death truly does have a wonderful exit :) such a deep and reflective write, Anna.

hedgewitch said...

For anyone who's spent time in (or next to) that bed, these words ring true. It's an odd world when poison is a mercy, and death seems a beautiful(if not experienced) exit next to the life lived--your last lines live up to your screen name, but they also tell a story of helplessness and forced choice...and no problem--56 words *are* sometimes needed. Thanks for playing, Anna.

Kerry O'Connor said...

From my own experience, I know how dying attracts a crowd. An excellent angle on the prompt, Anna.

brudberg said...

As long as we really can make those decisions this is right... my mother in law very much wanted to end it when she was in pain, but got better and now enjoy her life... but I think it's our right to do it.

Brendan said...

A double barreled 55 for the moment ... in the U.S., there is an akin move to protect the religious liberty of healthcare workers who object to participating in abortions. In between this legal tug of war are the suffering, the loved ones, the damaged mortal coil. Amen.

Magaly Guerrero said...

The last two lines of the first stanza made me shiver and sigh. They can be pure horror if uttered out of the mouth of a loved on, and sharp irony if said to a physician... But what really gets me is the state of the mind of a person who feels that they must say the words. Death is sometimes a solution--and, I suspect, that it can be beautiful after a rich life... but when it's shoved down a throat, I doubt it can look or feel pretty.

*shivers*

Vivian Zems said...

I love your take on this prompt. I can understand that there can be no sweeter sign as the EXIT on over the only door that promises relief.

Carrie Van Horn said...

Thought provoking and intense Anna! Thank you for sharing this. Like Kerry said this is an excellent angle on the prompt.

purplepeninportland.com said...

Unique approach to the prompt, Anna. People have their own moral code, and a right to have it.

Ginny Brannan said...

Wow! This is intense! Seen as ICU brings back many memories, not good, of time spent while family member in medically induced 'coma' to get him through pain from sepsis. Amazingly he got better, can remember the needles, the drip, the sounds of the machines. Sometimes it's hard to distinguish between cause and cure. You have really captured it!

Old Egg said...

That would be a wonderful memory to have as you exited this world: when as youngsters you were experiencing life as it should be lived for the very first time. Let's hope I can book my end to be this way.

Other Mary said...

That's a hard one. Much to think about here, Anna. Well penned, as usual.

Kim M. Russell said...

Wow, Anna, that's some take on the image. ICU - I see you - from the perspective of the patient - really intense.

drerhumu said...

Well done Anna, let me add my comment before reading others: it conjures an image to me of the curiosity about death, the glory of the hereafter but the reluctance of anyone to make that step.
I wonder if the reference to needles has anything to do with the biblical analogy of it being easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man.
Short but powerful imagery!
Now, let me read comments in case I'm totally wrong.

tonispencer said...

This is quite a write. ICU...having spent too much time by the bedsides of people who are dying - family and strangers alike, this is extremely intense. Good job.

belle said...

I especially like this section:

"thread in the needle,
fix in the line,
feed me my poison,
show me you care"

Excellent poem.

Donna@LivingFromHappiness said...

Interesting and intense....like your take on this!

Outlawyer said...

Agh. Feels very true to a hospital experience--the voice HAS been there. Thanks. k.

Susie Clevenger said...

Oh, there are those who will come to watch death that weren't there to celebrate life. I'm feeling this one.

Mud Green said...

good luck on your biopsy, Anna

Helen said...

Conscientious objectors have no place in medicine ~~ could not agree more. Your poem packs quite a punch and will stay with me for a while.