Picture of Beatrice PretiBeatrice Preti is an Internal Medicine Resident (R2) at Queen’s University

 

 

 

The list is long, but I know your name
Each day before, its spot was the same
Second from the top, the second room on the right
The one with three windows and a broken bathroom light

But today something’s different; the list I have’s bare
I looked for your name, but it wasn’t there
Something has happened, and, in my heart, I know
That though I fought to keep you here, you found a way to go

For four long weeks you languished in your spot on our floor
By the way things were going, we expected at least four more
But you made your own decision, one none of us foresaw
You took your life in your own hands and placed it in God’s palm

That was your choice, freely uncoerced, your final life’s wish,
To trade a life of suffering for one of endless bliss
And though I’m happy for you, the difficulty remains
That I still see a blank space where I once saw your name.