My mother’s heart could not
Would not
Beat the way it was supposed to
They had shocked her several times
More than a couple times
Trying to get things back in order
But it was not going to happen
So they put her in a coma
They shut just about everything down
That wasn’t shutting down already
To let her body get back into sinus rhythm
The natural moment
When the body and the heart
Are working together properly
And everything is in order
Because they couldn’t
Wouldn’t
Put the paddles to her again

She was already starting to gain weight
With her kidneys shut down she was maybe
Twenty pounds heavier at that point
Bloated
Unhappy looking
Even in sleep
They were worried about the fluid
And we all got together
To pray for her to pee
Because peeing would save her life

We were at the one more thing point
If one more thing went wrong
There was no return
No recovery to be had
And we hovered there
Asleep
Waiting for the one more thing