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You Have Been Told: A Dialogue Poem

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 July 2022

Paul Rousseau*
Affiliation:
1531 Wakendaw Road, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464
*
Author for correspondence: Paul Rousseau, 1531 Wakendaw Road, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464, USA. E-mail: palliativedoctor@aol.com
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Abstract

Type
Poetry
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

D: Doctor
P: Patient
D: You have been told it's serious;
P: “Life itself is serious.”
D: You have been told it's leukemia, acute myeloid;
P: “Just another pothole in the road.”
D: You have been told days to weeks, perhaps months;
P: “Months become years.”
D: You have been told further chemo is futile and dangerous;
P: “I'll die without chemo.”
D: You have been told you're in denial;
P: “You're trying to deny me life.”
D: You have been told you're dying;
P: “We're all dying.”
D: You have been told.
P: “Pfffttt.”