Tamale Accident and the ER 2.0 "Faces" a poem by Camille Galloway

There are faces that I see

At times when I close my eyes

I know they will always be there

Throughout the rest of my life

I walked in as a student

And on the third day I stumbled out

I felt like I had aged some years

You could see the faces in my eyes

She was a mother and a sister

A fighter until she passed

Our time together was brief

But in the end I couldn’t save her

As she let out one final scream

I held her hand and she went limp

I pounded on her chest, willing her to come back

But as her ribs cracked, her soul floated away

I still see her face

At night when I close my eyes

And I can still smell her sweat, vomit and blood

In my mind it’s still all too clear

He was a brother, a friend and a son

Born in the wrong country to be saved

But I fought so long and so hard

I couldn’t understand why nothing was being done

As the panic started to rise in my chest

I stepped out to take a breath

And in that moment of quiet I knew

The care he needed was never going to come

Was this murder? I’m still not sure

There are many questions with no answers

I wanted to yell, to kick and scream

Because I knew we could have saved him

But in the end when he slipped away

His eyes rolled back and his chest became still

I was left cold and empty

Just like the body beneath me

I still see his face

When I stare out the window

And the bitterness starts to rise

From the unfairness of it all

We didn’t save him

We couldn’t save him

When it was all over and done

When I stepped out of the room

There was still the brother, the friend, the father

There was still the daughter, the son and the sister

Their faces turned to look at me

And I stared into their hopeful eyes

As my stomach coiled itself into my chest

And I felt their hearts shatter with mine

I still see their faces

In the strangers on the streets

Perhaps they are in heaven now

Or just dust in the wind

Either way I could not save them

They are gone, gone, gone

I will always see their faces

Because I don’t want to forget

They deserved more than what they had

Yet they had more than what they wanted

As time moves ever forward

I will remember and grow stronger

But right now I still see their faces

And sometimes I will get mad

And it’ll be sad

For a while longer

***Don’t worry Mom and Dad we are coping well and heading to Mole to rest and recover! 

Written by Camille Galloway, UBCO 4th year BSN student