Departure Poem by Tony Jennett

Falling asleep all the time - that's expected
But I see the bag's gone that cries tears
In my arm. But the fire in my chest is not resurrected
And that for days? weeks? was the sum of my fears

A death-watch bug ticking under my pillows
Has jabbed in me somewhere a plastic proboscis
And now I am drunk midst the softest of billows
And sinking ---sinking Hey! Hold yer hosses!

So weak and so tired I can't move a muscle
But I'll struggle and fight off this torpor by thunder
With every last breath, every last blood corpuscle
Sod the softest of billows! I'm not going under! ----

----Sweet summer sunshine slides in through the curtain
To silhouette softly sweet daffodils blithe
There's no unlit corner to hide; that's for certain;
The bearded old man with his hourglass and scythe---

Quiet music somewhere -- Haydn? ---Beethoven?
Bach's 'Wachet Auf' on a faint organ blowing?
Doesn't matter. One crystalline theorem is proven
You finally fade away-- not -- even---knowing --