D N R

do you know what that means?
does anybody know
what those letters stand for?
they stand for
Do Not Resuscitate
it’s something they ask you about
when you’re in the hospital
when you’re sick and old
and they think
you might not make it home again
they give you this piece of paper to sign
and it lets the doctors and nurses know
what you want them to do
if you go into cardiac arrest
if your heart stops beating
and quits pumping blood to your brain
it says
they won’t try to perform
any extraordinary measures
in order to save your life
those are the kinds of terms they use
it means
they won’t try CPR on you
they won’t try to keep you alive
and connect you to machines
it’s your decision
and if that’s what you choose to do
they’ll try to make you
as comfortable as possible
they’ll come into your room
and check up on you
they’ll ask you
if you’re warm enough
if everything’s okay
and do you need anything
are you feeling any pain