'A DOCTOR'S LAST PRESCRIPTION'

No more surgeries or stethoscope 

Or ever again being a desperate last hope

No more gloved fingers pointing out posteriors

Or seeing blood chemistry’s misbehaviours

Farewell to bacteria and prescriptions  

Goodbye to listeria and medical subscriptions

Farewell to primary and secondary hysteria

Goodbye to conferences in baroque Bavaria 

Farewell to ectopic, endoscopic and laparoscopic

Goodbye kidney stones, broken bones and ringing phones

Farewell cardiac arrests and sweaty string vests

Goodbye defibrillation and helpful lubrication

Farewell asthmatic wheezing and oozy pimple squeezing

No more appointments or patient disappointment 

Please bear with me, a moment or so

I’ve just had a thought before I go  

I think I’ll give myself a second opinion

Even though the odds are one in a billion

Airway open, but the wind’s gone out of my sail

Heart present, hmm, but it’s definitely a fail

Since my bp has fallen off a cliff

And my blood sugar needs a toblerone drip

To the good doctor who signed, I do defer 

And sadly agree that I do now concur

So my last doctor’s prescription to you

As you shuffle about on your hard wooden pew

Oh! I do hope you can read my writing 

As my last sign off is becoming exciting

Starting of course with healthy lifestyles 

Accompanied by more laughter, tickling and smiles

And more fulfillment to you in every way

Now that you should value more each and every day

And as much love as your heart will stand

While you enrich your life by my hand

And any lumps, coughs, prolonged sneezes and wheezes  

See a doctor sooner than later

In order that you don’t meet your maker 

Because life is priceless

I should know

Because I was a doctor

Until a few heartbeats ago

Signed 

(Title, Name & Qualification Initials, as appropriate.) 

Michael Ashby, Sidmouth.

(Funeral poem for a doctor)