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Wednesday 8 August 2012

Poem for Charles


What is your purpose now –
a spirit and soul, life-defeating sadness
the brain exposed in medical terms, sinus,
carcinoma, bccs,
blue eyes shining, a face without pain, serene
uttering half collected words,
what is your purpose now -
the profound sadness of your situation
falling like a caress upon the beholder
the innocence of your tears stinging the eyes
of others
to hold a hand and demonstrate how to live
because you are a spirit, a soul
and a man
That is your purpose now.



The sight of a dressing undone, revealing a sinus which had eaten through a person’s head as far as his brain was sobering and extremely moving. I had not seen such a wound before, yet did not feel revulsion or disgust. To have done so would have been to belittle the person inside that frail body. The sight filled me with intense pity.

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