I didn’t take this morning.
With the heart pounding too fast
I felt tightness
In the chest.
My heart is pounding.
My breath is short.
Pounding that could be foretelling
Weakening of respiratory muscles.
It could be just
A side effect of medications
I hope
I wish.
When chest wall muscles fail and
The diaphragm fails to move
Up and down,
Breathing stops.
An asthma attack or
Weakening of muscles?
Flying low with both wings impaired
I am going down
Flying out of control.
Dr. Okabe came.
My sister pressed,
“Give her a drip.”
Dr. Okabe said,
“I’ll be back with it.”
To provide nourishment to me,
Who couldn’t eat, Dr. Okabe
Shuttled back and forth and
Made triple house calls.
An IV needle was inserted in my arm
Gently nutritional formulas flowed in
Infused with life force.
Drip drip goes the IV fluid
Looking up I saw the blue sky
I long for the blue sky.
The IV was removed
Recurring attack of asthma
Relentless
My suffering ever worsening.
For emergency hospitalization, an ambulance was called.
New development
Change of clothes, towels and a toiletry kit
Were packed in a bag.
With the familiar wailing of
An ambulance siren
EMTs opened the door.
The siren wailed through the night sky
I’m on an ambulance
The gurney rattled to
ER
The clock on the ambulance said 20:40
I V Steroid
Oxygen administration
EKG Monitor
Chest X-Ray
Drawing blood from a vein
Drawing blood from an artery at the top of the thigh.
At midnight, the ER was brightly lit.
I would never have known.
My Immobile body was resigned
To the brightness of surgical lights.
I was Moved From ER treatment room to
Co-ed ICU.
Some Groaning
Others Snoring
All kinds of patients
As I became one of the “all kinds”
A long night began.
Poem by Maria Franki
Edited and translated by J. Ujiie
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