The Hospital Poem by Denis Martindale

Her breathing problems had returned.
She's in the hospital.
And so her family have yearned,
'God grant a miracle! '
It's in His hands, if yes or no,
If she can stay or leave,
Perhaps to live, perhaps to go,
For us to smile or grieve.

Old age brings problems all its own,
Until this day arrives,
Until this day, for flesh and bone,
The body still survives.
We gather round and hold her hand
And watch her battle on,
And hope that she can understand
Not all our hopes have gone.

The Doctors face the fearful facts,
Beyond their skills and powers,
Beyond the way she now reacts
For twenty-four more hours.
Perhaps the final time God's left
Until she meets her Lord,
While we remain, feeling bereft,
As Jesus cuts the cord.

And yet, it's faith for either fate,
That God grants to us all.
Amazing Grace itself proves great,
Beyond death's final call.
Beyond this realm where parents went,
A long, long time ago,
In Heaven, they still represent
The love of God we know.


Denis Martindale.17th of April 2026.


This poem was written on the night before the death of my sister Carol on the 18th of April 2026. I shared the notebookLM--google--com video overview of the poem on YouTube and added the poem and the introduction notes there, too.

U r n 3 1 1 L w 3 9 4 Filename The Final Vigil

The title is: THE HOSPITAL.

This poem is about those we love when they get admitted to the hospital. Perhaps a relative emails us a picture of the one we love on a hospital bed, receiving intensive care and painkillers. The Doctors share fewer hopes when the antibiotics can't help, and then the people pray, as they await God's ultimate response to this life-or-death situation.

Only God knows for sure. Perhaps there's a near-death experience, perhaps not. Perhaps we've only seen scenes like this in hospital TV series or family films. As they say in the movies, 'This time, it's personal.' The poem addresses the Christian faith. Will God's tender mercies continue if every diagnosis states the exact opposite?

It's in God's hands now, and yet it's always been in God's hands. Like Job, we press on until we can't understand God at all. That's why the so-called big picture view may not console us during a deeply personal time of anguish.

Some say that time heals all wounds. So, it isn't a sin to grieve and yet to smile, weeks or months later. Life goes on, until it's our turn in the hospital, too. Then we face our measure of faith despite our fears. For life is such a precious thing that we choose life, not death, and yet it's always been granted as the gift of God.

God has granted Christian believers the gift of eternal life. Death is the transformation, and far beyond what the Bible says of believers being a new creation. We are pilgrims passing through and nothing more.