For John Poem by Claudia Fitzgerald

I write about the future because nothing has happened to me,
I still have time to think how I want my life to be.
But nothing's so sure that I can ponder without waves of doubt
hitting unexpectedly to remind me that things don't always work out.

And so now I think of you,
lying in a hospital bed,
also awake in the middle of the night.

The future has happened for you,
and, beacuse it must be said,
each day takes you a step closer to the end.

I was never particularly close to you,
I think you felt pretty much the same too.
But the mention of your immanent departure,
Urges me to grasp the day, make it my capture.

Even though I may not talk to you again,
the lessons you teach now take me farther
and make you truly my god-father.