Challenging Poetry

for Caleb on his thirteenth birthday

today, my mind is filled with
the mechanical rhythm
of the ventilator

a baby should
hiccup and sneeze in his
first hours as he learns
the trick of breath, but you
never did

my breath followed yours,
trying to catch your lungs
in a more natural rhythm, but you
could not

and at the end,
you slipped away, leaving
only aching eyes and empty air.

Prompt: April 18—Good Friday-- yes, this poem is off prompt