On the Cusp (edited)

There's a body floating
on the hospital ceiling
who's intently watching
another human being
lying flat on his back
down below on a bed,
gasping for breath
and apparently dead.
But that inert person
is none other than him
and the realisation
is unavoidably grim.
The moribund patient
seems to be frowning
as his brain imagines
that he is drowning.
And as his life flashes
before his eyes
he thinks of things
to be done ere he dies.
To fulfil all the tasks
would be his swan song
but the time is too short
and the list is too long.

© Luigi Pagano 2019

Image from Wikimedia Commons