She turned aside and stared
Then looked around her home
Then turned to us and bared
The fears that she had known

She asked what did we know
That called us now to speak
What time is left to go
What time is left to reap

She lead us to the door
A smile replaced a tear
We gently said good bye
Not yet my death not near

We left her all alone
To journey to her past
We called her on the phone
Her life was leaving fast

Her days were growing dim
In tenderness she prayed
Her smile showed her in Him
In Him wherein she stayed.

She called us to her place
She let the open door
Bid us welcome by her grace
The fight her fight no more

She looked us in the eye
A gentle smile well known
In silence said goodbye
Her death would be her own

We left her at the door
We said we�d call again
But call her then no more
Her life her life at end

We came to meet them at the door
They called us in and sat us down
We told them what we were there for
In sorrow came we fully round.

Copyright �2003 Mary L McCurry

Mary L McCurry, RN, CHPN, is a Case Manager working for Pathways Hospice, San Francisco branch. "I also live sandwiched between the mountains and the deep blue sea (mobile home park on edge of Pacific) with a brood of feline furballs in a little town called Pacifica."