Stook griiind, stook griiind:
                                  the pulse extends
waves to thrust air
                                  down her throat
into wizened lungs.
                                  Her brain sucks
oxygen for its miserly self
                                  storing it
for her last memory of
                                  Shang-A-Lang.
It robs muscle
                                  so she is still,
it thieves liver
                                  so she pees brown,
it purloins kidneys
                                  so toxins thrive.
Her mobile shrills:
                                  Agadoo doo doo.
The nurse answers,
                                  ‘Yes, I’ll tell her.’
‘The Sassenachs send love.’
                                  Her hand on the blue
waffle blanket flexes.
                                  Her mouth moues
breathless unsound;
                                  meaningless and true.