In a Hospital
in a hospitala breath of infant breath blendswith a last-gasp death
the child does not knowhe is alive nor the manthat his breathing's done
nor can those watcherswho pronounce that one is deadand the other born
say with certaintyof what they saw before themany more than this
"in a hospitalwe watched two breaths meet in timethe rest in silence"
From Against Perspective. Reprinted with permission of Kathleen Forsythe, Cogswell's literary executor. Back to Selected Poems