One Last Wish Poem by John F. McCullagh

The old man at the hospice
was in a world of pain.
His sight was gone,
his heart grew weak
and not much time remained.

I don't recall who asked the question,
but I was struck by his reply.
It contained a world of wisdom
from a soul about to die.

Someone had asked the dying man
'If wishes were for free-
and I could grant you one last wish
what would that last wish be? '

He didn't wish for fortune
He didn't lust for fame
He cared not a whit for money
or to escape his gnawing pain.

' I think, if I had one last wish
before my times gone by-
I'd be a babe in my mother's arms
and hear a lullaby.'

' That would be a good way to pass
- not soaked in urined sheets-
but comfortably in Mother's arms
and gently rocked to sleep.'

That very night the old man died,
He passed on in his sleep.
I hope he's in his mother's arms
with no more cause to weep.