A tracheostomy is a procedure where a hole is made at the front of the neck. A tube is inserted through the opening and into the trachea to help the patient breathe.

my eyes cannot pull away from the stitches
a cruel patchwork, a cross hatched trail I follow until finally
I reach these glassy eyes
nestled deep under the shady canopy of gray, wiry eyebrows
quietly luminescent
like catching the rare millisecond sparkle of a single sunray
glancing the sharp tip of wave crest
your voice worn hoarse by the healing scalpel
you ache to tell me something, I try to listen I strain and I just
hear rasps. I failed I cannot help but listen sadly in futility
that is when I notice the deep tree hollow in your throat
an open hole, leading to infinite darkness
you clutch it every time you speak
as if shutting down its coercions to succumb
to reach for its calls out of instinct, to clutch it tight until
the pain becomes worse than it is
and pessimism hurls itself against those you care for the most
you see it escape and hurt but cannot catch it
soon it runs free without you
acting as a slow drug
leaving inescapable shadows of the people you hurt in its wake.
instead your face breaks into a smile that easily floods
across most of your emaciated face
you know I understood nothing—
my clipboard blank, my pen comically suspended in the air
yet you remain unwarrantedly grateful.
I eventually walk away
each gloom and shadow of endless wards, curtains, beeps
now all tinged with a humble shine
I catch it now and then—
a flash, a spark, a smile, a pained giggle, a handshake that warms yellowed, frail fingers—
and I hope you’re alright
as they wheel you away, discharged into the wide expanse of the world