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21 Grams (Remixed)

This was from one of my earliest posts... Now, remixed... into a poem.
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They say a man’s body decreases in mass
by 21 grams when he dies...
“Proof” the soul exists...
“Proof” it departs from the place he lies.

Tonight I witnessed something new,
the body and soul depart.
A man coded on the floor,
we were called to respond, to do our part.

ET tube slides down past the cords,
CPR resumes.
Epi and atropine given, we got him back!
As though robbing him from a tomb.

He seemed to have a few reflexes intact,
Though unable to respond.
Pupils dilated and fixed.
Death he began to don.

Dopamine was started.
Family round the bed.
Pressures too low, we titrated,
Trying to keep vitals out of the red.

As pressures improved,
he began to move.
Then, from nowhere...
he opened his eyes!

Looking around, but agitated now he moves his extremities.
Thrashing about! Panic stricken! Fear was in his eyes.
He tries to get out of bed... then suddenly,
collapsing back in his final demise.

Peace overcoming him,
his heart rate dwindled,
pressures dropped and dropped,
no pulse... heart slowed and finally stopped.

23:21 I pronounce him dead.
Wife continued to cry.
The daughter consoling,
as soul was drifting towards the sky.

I was happy for the family,
sharing in this the final leg of his journey.
I too was glad to have seen it,
this part of our human story.

God doesn’t call us to live in comfort,
but to experience life in full.
And to love one another,
while we do.

This was a rare chance to peer,
through a window in God's creation,
a dramatic and terrible beauty, a life,
from tragic pain to final destination.



-David MD

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