“It’s a wild world.” My precious wife Anne who is dying of brain cancer has lost almost her entire capacity to speak, but every so often verbal gems emerge unbidden, like buried treasure from the depths of an unfathomable sea. Recently, as we explored the palliative care ward in her wheelchair, out came the chorus..
Caregiving Elegy Inspired by an anti-cutback rally, March 23,2006, Ottawa, Ontario In hushed-lit rooms where fragile hours bend, They walk with steady grace through every door, These keepers of our suffering at the end, Who hold the weight we cannot bear once more. Their hands, a refuge when the night grows long, Bring comfort..
Anne’s Blanket It rests across her knees like a small country of colour, bright petals and woven birds rising against the dim room. Threads hum with the warmth of Guatemalan sun, a warmth she keeps close as her body cools. Perhaps she loves her blanket because it remembers for her: markets ringing with..
Terms of Endearment: St. Vincent’s Hospital, palliative care wing, March 18, 2026 Because Anne’s brain tumour has caused ongoing incontinence that impacts both her comfort and dignity, a catheter insertion became a necessary step in managing her care. Understanding how frightened she was of the procedure – her trembling, whimpers, and tears revealing the depth..
Anne chooses a song for her celebration of life AND IT’S WINTER/ ET C’EST L’HIVER F. Hamelin – Marie-Claire Séguin A beautiful, poetic song for an interminable winter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhKIlLhWHxg When Anne and I were first together in 1979-1980, she loved this hauntingly beautiful poetic song, which she would sing continuously..
Anne watches Casablanca A poem for Academy Award Season 2026 She watches Casablanca again, the hospital room dim except for that soft, silver light that once lit up the world before either of us had names for love. Maybe she holds on to it now because the old films never rush – they let longing..
Birthday Elegy For Friends and Family: Many thanks for your kind birthday wishes I gather your wishes, gentle gifts that arrive like sunlight warming winter’s silent ground. On this birthday, each word you sent glimmers with kindness that softens edges of sorrow. Anne, my beloved, sits near, her eyes bright though the storm of..
Our Last Birthday Together: St. Vincent’s Hospital Palliative Care Unit, March 10, 2026 The nurses brought in the birthday breakfast with quiet hands, the early light of dawn trembling, uncertain, like the hush in Anne’s voice. Anne smiled, the skin around her lips softening as if time could not bear to bruise her further…
The Cruelty of Daylight-Saving Time For Anne, in the thinning light Daylight saving arrives; they tell us to spring forward, to claim another hour of sun, but I watch the clock betray us, an hour stolen, not earned. Anne, your strength dwindling as the calendar hurries on; the world insists on more light but..
For Anne, Who Still Loves the Soundscape of Dr. Seuss In the thinning light of evening, your hands still reach for colours that rhyme. The gentle tumble of Seuss’s words spills like bright marbles across the quiet hospital room. Perhaps they remind you that the world can stay playful, even when the body forgets how…