My Santiago

Dénouement (Dedicated to an ailing father)

I bend to kiss his forehead, Now cooler, No longer flushed cheeks, I whisper, “Love you dad”.

Waiting for some flicker of recognition, Some sign that he knows

that I have been there these last seven days!

That he knew, I was his son! That he knew, I loved him!

But none came! Instead, The merest flicker of eyelids, A pursing of the lips, A loose bronchial cough!

It’s all in there, (Locked away – forever fused in a tangled web of synapses,

Impassable now) The recognition, The life passed,

The soul, The man!

Chemistry and Religion! Science and God!

Irretrievable!

The delicate balance Between care and care - less, Between fixing and palliative, Between restoring and death, With least pain!

So I turn on my heal, Walk out of his room With a parting glance over my shoulder at the physical likeness of my dad! Now infirm! And turn the bend in the corridor, Heading towards