Last Flower And Last Letter Poem by Elizabeth Padillo Olesen

I've just delivered to your room
the last flower and my last letter
It's a flower you no longer can behold
It's a letter you no longer can read.

You still breathe
but cannot wake up
Your body is warm
but it can never rise up.

Minute after minute
your family surrounds you
touching your fingers and forehead
and shaking their heads in disbelief.
They too must wait
for God's verdict.

And the flower I delivered
to your room stands lonely
on a lonely table
And my last letter to you
on the platter remains unread.