First published by Boats Against the Current

comfort measures

I don’t hate the term as much

as I should, or as much

as I loathe other phrases

that embed in foreheads

like initials in concrete.

It is softer than

do not resuscitate

silkier, kinder, more

humane, like a bed of

autumn leaves and not

an intubation hose.

It is more fleeting than

advanced directives

unfinished, in motion, less

final, like a hummingbird

that darts and hovers and not

a document signed at deathbedside.

It is more infinite than

end-of-life

stretching, lasting, not

bookended like a bamboo stalk

that climbs into ceiling-less sky and not

the cessation of breath.

comfort measures

like the steam from chicken noodle soup,

a brush of soft fingertip

to shoulder blade,

a squeeze of a palm,

release.