Flowers in the Dark

By Dr Joseph Hawkins, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Clinical lead for End of Life Care, Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust. Twitter: @JoeHawk75825077 Soft masticating, The only sound Of a mouse pondering -unknowable thoughts. The absence of an owl, Swooping on silent wings To complete the picture of idyll. But the owl had met […]

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The meaning of Regret.

By Dr Joseph Hawkins, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Clinical lead for End of Life Care, Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust. Twitter: @JoeHawk75825077 Regret is anti- onomatopoeic It doesn’t babble like a brook, Or sigh, like the breeze But I understand how regret feels Nights spent longing Laughing at private mistakes Conversations never held […]

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Don’t stare at the light

By Dr Joseph Hawkins, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Clinical lead for End of Life Care, Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust. Twitter: @JoeHawk75825077   We shared an eclipse, Once in a lifetime The light fails to shine when it should be shining, We all laugh at the idiosyncrasy of hoping for a cloudless day […]

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Make a wish

By Dr Joseph Hawkins, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Clinical lead for End of Life Care, Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust. Twitter: @JoeHawk75825077 I watched you get cancer, And sadness became a sister to me. Each birthday became a goal But every time the cake came out you’d say no Wordlessly I thought you’d […]

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Being made palliative.

By Dr Joseph Hawkins, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Clinical lead for End of Life Care, Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust. Twitter: @JoeHawk75825077 Completed my will today, Said good bye To the cat And cancelled the milk. Need to call my solicitor later And the vicar, I’m not religious But the family has always […]

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The value of Care.

By Dr Joseph Hawkins, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Clinical lead for End of Life Care, Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust. Twitter: @JoeHawk75825077 When I purchased my Toaster- don’t laugh, I looked -at all of Google’s best (Free) reviews, Two weeks I persisted In the search for the right one. At two weeks in, […]

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Say you have to go

By Dr Joseph Hawkins, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Clinical lead for End of Life Care, Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust. Twitter: @JoeHawk75825077 Say you have to go, Tell me, then I shall know. We left unsaid Always the words crouched Hidden jungle cats Between the forest trees of triviality Constructed of words and […]

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I’m afraid I have to go now

By Dr Joseph Hawkins, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Clinical lead for End of Life Care, Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust. Twitter: @JoeHawk75825077 Title contributed by Miss Katie Scott I’ve never been good at goodbyes. When I changed jobs I tried to disappear Slip silently away before the party poppers Were popped. When caught […]

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