I Remember...

I Remember...
A Poem by Christopher Gallo

I lay here,
Watching my heart-rate decrease.
A tear runs down my cheek,
I know my life is about to cease.

And I lay here, my hands old and cracked,
My face is wrinkled and ancient,
I remember my wife,
And for her I give lament.

And I lay here,
My life draining away,
And I remember my dog,
That handsome little stray.

I just sit here,
Finding breathing hard to do,
And I remember my sweet young daughter,
Her name is Mary Lou.

I am wasting away here,
In this old hospital room,
And now I remember my son,
And my heart is full of gloom.

All my life has sped away,
And left me dead and old,
And now I remember childhood,
For that was solid gold.

But memories are memories,
and my star will fade away,
and maybe when I die,
A new child will be born this day.

Some day he will lay here,
in this exact same bed,
And have a bit of happiness,
In a moment of such dread.

I remember my first car,
I remember when my father died,
I remember when my brother ran away,
And you must know I cried.

I remember everything that happened,
When I was just a kid,
But now it is fading away,
And death is about to close the lid.

I look to my side,
and I grab the teddy bear,
that my beautiful granddaughter sent me,
and I snuggle him, and I lose all my fear.

I close my eyes,
I go to sleep,
I am not going to wake up again,
But I will wake as a shepherd in a land of sheep.