Rain and Roses

<h2><SPAN name="A_DEATH_BLOW" id="A_DEATH_BLOW"></SPAN>A Death Blow</h2> <div class="poetry"> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="ig"><span class="letra">H</span>E said goodbye, you hobbled out,<br/></span> <span class="ih">The Doctor shut the door.<br/></span> <span class="i0">From your face I knew he’d told you<br/></span> <span class="i2">Things we had guessed before.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">I saw you slightly tremble<br/></span> <span class="i2">But I reached you ere you fell.<br/></span> <span class="i0">Your fixèd face said many things<br/></span> <span class="i2">More than you cared to tell.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">One does not receive death warrants<br/></span> <span class="i2">As one would a courtesy.<br/></span> <span class="i0">After awhile your head went up<br/></span> <span class="i2">And you talked it all out with me.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Brave little woman I knew you<br/></span> <span class="i2">Knew you were never afraid.<br/></span> <span class="i0">Not for yourself, You forbid me&mdash;<br/></span> <span class="i2">To speak and my questions you staid.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">All I could give was silence.<br/></span> <span class="i2">Your pride forbade me much.<br/></span> <span class="i0">Tho’ I longed to bear your burden<br/></span> <span class="i2">Even to be your crutch.<br/></span> <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="page_36" id="page_36">{36}</SPAN></span></div> </div></div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />