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 […]
Category: Poets’ Corner
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
The Tree That Stands By My Window
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 Hello tree, I was a teenager when I first appreciated you. Your greens were greener then, But then my hair was thicker So I shouldn’t compare Glass houses and all that. […]
Looking through the eyes of the sailor…by Christiaan A. Rhodius
(Edvard Munch “Døden ved roret”, 1893. Photo: Munchmuseet / Svein Andersen) Great to have a breeze. Without it a sailor goes nowhere. I just had to pull my hat down to make sure it wouldn’t blow away. I have secured a good position in the boat, one leg stretched for support and the other bent. […]
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 […]
Quick thoughts on Westerns.
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 die, I won’t enjoy the things I know. But then I guess I won’t know, That When I’m dead. I feel like dying will be deafening But am I […]
It’s not about the antibiotics
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 The cough is getting worse, Breathing-once a silent unnoticed activity Punctuating the stillness between sentences Now a cacophony of rasps and gurgles Such an undertak-… a challenge (Let’s avoid some words). […]
Poem: A New Year Resolution.
By Dr Joseph Hawkins, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Clinical lead for end of life care, Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust. A New Year Resolution. Sparklers shine, smoke all around, Fireworks leap as corridors fill Manager’s myopically seeing only the bill, Desperate searching, no solution to be found. The hospital is burning down. […]