Chlorhexidine scent
solvent; stripped clean
sterile and raw
From a hospital bed
subarachnoid bleed
neurological trauma
Draws closer the sheets,
shadows draw near
Lhermitte’s delusions
at night-time appear
Substantial - but lucid
vivid; bizarre
childlike wonder
at lights in the dark
Familiar faces; people I’ve loved
visions from our past lives, through darkness returned
in anachronistic semblance
blooming forth; the haemorrhage
cause sympathetic surge
loss of pupil reflex
Kernig’s sign affirmed
Progressive loss of function,
of memories and fears
decreasing state of conscious
falling toward dreamless coma