The Remedy

In the deepest part of my despair
my heart wounded unto a death
the world would not give me
as release
to assuage the broken agony
my life had smothered into,
slabbed, split wide
and wired back together,
wrists and ankles tied
to hospital bed,
some struggling sacrifice
tortured under
doctors' knives
yet still alive,
wishing not only to be dead
but killed instead
by strangers cloaking their concern
with professionalism
and white coats,
I screamed voiceless in my agony
the tubes and wires down my clutching throat
refusing to let me speak
wondering how long it would take
to die
until I saw her face loom large above
the bed I wanted
to be my coffin,
felt her hands take mine between them,
and felt her whisper
on my cheek:
"I love you,
and you are not alone."
I realized then
that I would stay alive.