Its not how any life should end;
the pale cheeks puffy from chemo,
the prized hair gone from radiation,
the rosiness sucked from his cheeks,
and an eye permanently closed from surgery.
Its not how any life should end;
in an eerie hospital room,
in a filthy hospital bed,
under polyester sheets,
with a TV blaring quietly
and a beeping machine counting the
seconds left
and the final breaths
before death.
Its not how any life should end;
after only 11 years,
before a chance at middle school,
before a future, a career, a wife,
a few pudgy children, a life.
Its not how any life should ever have to end.
And no mother should ever be forced to watch her child die slowly,
knowing that only months are left,
that that was the last report card of A's,
that that was the last family photograph taken,
and that numbered are her beloved's days.