I've Entered Hospice

at home, without caregivers

healthy yet genuinely dying

by deciding no more treatments

aimed at prolonging life

exceptions are repairs — hips replaced

thumb rebuilt, cataracts removed

yes to in & out, carry on as if

equipment were original

oh, & monitoring the optic nerve

for I've no wish to live blind

otherwise I'm content

to sail along until I die

or forget what it means to be alive

doubtless I've insufficient knowledge

of possible ills, am girded

merely against what's common
cancer, heart, lungs

I'm not opposed to pain relief

only to resisting what's meant to be

when the ink runs out

I'll go quietly