The disinfectant smell of the hospital
penetrated my nostrils
as the doctor’s question
hung heavy
in clinical detachment.
A stupor of disbelief
locked my lips in shocked silence.
Did he know, really know
who he was referring to?
Saving a life
ending a life
dying with dignity
life support systems…
words, words, words
rolled by with thunderous threats
trying to puncture my numbed brain.
Give me a moment please
my sensibilities screamed,
while thoughts raced in rapid beats,
but, isn’t every life precious?
after all, only God has the right to end a life.
Don’t Catholics believe that
we are made in the image and likeness of God?
The pounding hit sharper
at head and heart.
Tears, tucked tight inside
suddenly spilled over.
This is my mother you know.
Euthanasia is a moral evil
flashed across my inner eyes.
groping for sight
in this nightmare of moral directives.
My conscience cried,
Preserve life at all costs!
Was it euthanasia he meant
or something else?
Perhaps I was mistaken
I heard wrong.
What a moral dilemma.
The Catholic church I soon found
supports “a natural death”
and demands no intervention
to quicken dying.
Many moons later
she who desired to do
only God’s will
slipped into sleep –
into a peace
that surpassed all understanding.
Rest in peace, dear one,
You went the way you came
under God’s watchful eye and loving care