Within a Heartbeat

Death, screaming whispers through my ear

The loud silence as I felt every nerve in my body let go

With every heartbeat, it came nearer and nearer

With every breath, I lay engulfed in woe

Helpless now, helpless then

They say life is just a game

But life is the player

We're the game.

The world became a blur, nothing mattered now

Neither wealth, nor poverty

All those unfulfilled dreams assigned for the future

Were all gone, in a heartbeat.

Now floating near the gates of death,

Life repeated itself before my eyes

Presenting thousands of memories within a heartbeat 

I watched as I had to

The laughter of my beloved daughters

Like foam-crested waves fading away

Screaming in delight as the ocean carried her away

Felt their tears slide through their cheeks

And drop on my hands

Like precious little raindrops, falling from the heavens 

Memories, powerful to make me smile even then

As I watched myself evaporate in the wake of defeat

The last I remember, were the blinking red lights and screeching sirens 

Panicked faces and nurses hovering upon my body

But I knew, I was destined to die

And so I did

And it all happened within a heartbeat.