I lay unaware, stretched out like a corpse on a mortuary slab.

Gone but apparently not irretrievably so

I can only imagine the burst of adrenaline

That exploded in that room,

But for me time had ceased to exist.

 

A minute or a lifetime could have passed

The events only reconstructed later

by nurses’ comments and strategically placed bruises.

Testimony to incredibly enthusiastic CPR.

That had transpired in my absence.

 

I returned to the living at the insistence

Of 1000 volts of electricity

Its ability to negate the effects of gravity

affirmed by my vertical rise from the table.

and pain beyond anything I could have imagined.

 

Pried from momentarily dead vocal cords

A shout announcing my return to the living

And a plea of,” Don’t do that again!”

Then the questions, “where am I?”

What just happened?

 

It slowly became obvious whatever it was,

Was far from being concluded.

Voices from the darkness provided a running commentary

While screens staring down gave proof in black and white.

That my heart while now beating, was in serious trouble.

 

I watched, fascinated at an unexpected glimpse into

The mechanics of my mortality.

At an analogue of a great river system

With its largest tributary now completely blocked

It’s downstream course white and bloodless.

 

I watch as a snake dark and lifeless, slowly makes its way upstream,

Toward the blockage, beyond which no blood moved

A tiny push forwards the smallest pull backward

Subtle directions issuing forth from beyond my awareness

 

It’s left to me to trust that the final outcome

Will be whatever it is destined to be

It was at this point I surrendered completely to

The peace of the darkness to await the answer.