Death Bed Wish

Yep, it’s Wednesday-Friday again. Thanks to Rochelle Wisoff-Fields we have a beautiful picture (provided by Roger Bultot) to stir our imaginations.

Photo by Roger Bultot

I’d like to live the remainder of my life in the rose glow of candlelight.
Somewhere within the shadows bordering darkness and expectation
where the world is neither full of wild desire nor deep disappointment.

There, my children would softly hum accompanied by a choir of crickets
and the thrum of one-hundred bullfrogs.
And fireflies would spark in the midnight air.

Instead, I’m trapped in the bright neon glow of fluorescent bulbs,
held in place by blue plastic tubes twisting like snakes around me,
listening to the thump-thumb of an oxygen pump
while my children softly cry.

Still Alive

My friend, Aurelio Orlandini, flew Huey helicopters in Vietnam. His chopper was shot down, leaving him so severely wounded he was zipped into a body bag. Lucky for us, someone noticed he was breathing. The world would be a dim place without Mr. Orlandini’s stories and broad smile. My 100 words are dedicated to him and all the men and women who serve and have served our country.
Thanks to J. Hardy Carroll for this poignant picture and to Rochelle for posting it.

Two months ago Aurelio Orlandini came five seconds close to being zipped into a body bag – chest bleeding, legs broken. Luckily the guy manning the zipper shouted, “Dude’s movin’! Medevac him!” Forget the damn wounds, one more pull of the zipper, he’d have suffocated inside a big black bag.

The hospital sheets are better than sex. Sweet and soft. Best of all, they don’t care what position (mainly flat on his back) or disposition (generally angry with pain) he’s in.

Then again, there’s that nurse who brings the mail. A real blonde cutie. Nope, Aurelio thinks, I’m not dead yet.

An InLinkz Link-up

//static.inlinkz.com/cs2.js?v=116