Boghos Artinian’s most recent poem to appear here was Cherish or Perish (March 2013).
Pacing in the tomb
By Boghos L Artinian
He lay helpless and terminally ill–
His cells gone berserk for the final kill.
The intern entered softly whistling,
Snatched a stethoscope and started listening.
He told the family face to face,
“His pacemaker is out of pace.”
Barely missing the oncologist,
into the room comes the cardiologist.
“Missing some beats is a clear indication
That his pacemaker needs an extirpation.”
The replacement? “The latest model.
He needs it now, let’s not dawdle.”
It was a minor intervention
To install the contraption
That would outlast a healthy groom
And pace eternally in his tomb.
His cells gone berserk for the final kill.
The intern entered softly whistling,
Snatched a stethoscope and started listening.
He told the family face to face,
“His pacemaker is out of pace.”
Barely missing the oncologist,
into the room comes the cardiologist.
“Missing some beats is a clear indication
That his pacemaker needs an extirpation.”
The replacement? “The latest model.
He needs it now, let’s not dawdle.”
It was a minor intervention
To install the contraption
That would outlast a healthy groom
And pace eternally in his tomb.
The rhyme, the reason and pace touch me.