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Afterwards

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2024

Sophia ZhaoOpen the ORCID record for Sophia Zhao[Opens in a new window]
Sophia Zhao*
Affiliation:
Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
*
Email: sophia.j.zhao@yale.edu
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Information

Type
Poetry
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 22 , Issue 5 , October 2024, pp. 1527
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press.
On the walk towards the hospital, I think of June,
the last time I saw you. The floor was crowded
but quieter. Shadows shifted across the linoleum,
every worker’s schedule tense. Voices murmuring
past closed doors. In your room, I asked for your name,
and you continued to look past the window.
You watched the cars groan and heave, the children
slouch off flecks of dirt and sand. The minutes
seemed to pass like crows, impatient scorch marks
circling over the farmfields. The tubes wired
into your arms churned a liquid greased with
scarlet, its slog a low gurgle in the corner.
When you finally looked at me, I knew I
would remember your face, sunken and tired.
I still remember your eyes, wounded
and dark enough to swallow a cry—