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 where the world has turned its face;
Through whispered care, they hum a steadfast song
Against the cold of cuts and dwindling grace.

For those we love, they travel far beyond
The duty written on a chart or page;
With mercy’s quiet courage as their bond,
They stand beside our heartbreak, age to age.

O tireless souls who meet our darkest fears,
You stitch our grief with light, and earn our tears.

The photo is of five nurses who have treated my wife, devastated by the cruel horrors of glioblastoma, an ultra-aggressive form of brain cancer, with the gentleness of genuine of love and affection. These are people with a vocation, who should be rewarded not cut.

Their names are Julie, Angie,.Donna, Rita,and Brenda…and there are many more on the Bruyere palliative care ward who deserve equal praise and mention.

CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees), representing registered nurses.

SEIU Healthcare (Service Employees International Union): This union represents a large number of frontline health-care workers in Ontario, including registered practical nurses (RPNs), personal support workers (PSWs), personal care assistants, and other staff in nursing homes and hospitals.

If you feel like keeping track of Anne’s cancer journey, I’m chronicling it in prose and poetry here:

https://robertmcbrydeauthor.com/news/