Fall 2002 Charles River Review: Lessons on Dying

It began with a laboratory exercise: examining
pain and patience, focus and giving up,
the nonlinearity of time. I'm reluctant,
an angry student pulled along by the professor.
In that lull before the great examination,
I study long hours alone. This stuff
is like calculus, opaque and upsetting.
I come at it from various angles.
I count the days. Should I marvel at how many
have accrued, or how few are left?
I read the journals. I am a heroine
or a statistic. My friends visit to welcome me back
or to say goodbye. I am learning to live
without an earthly syllabus.



	THE HARVARD EXTENSION SCHOOL WRITING PROGRAM PREVIOUS \| CONTENTS \| NEXT Lessons on Dying Margot Kruskall It began with a laboratory exercise: examining pain and patience, focus and giving up, the nonlinearity of time. I'm reluctant, an angry student pulled along by the professor. In that lull before the great examination, I study long hours alone. This stuff is like calculus, opaque and upsetting. I come at it from various angles. I count the days. Should I marvel at how many have accrued, or how few are left? I read the journals. I am a heroine or a statistic. My friends visit to welcome me back or to say goodbye. I am learning to live without an earthly syllabus. PREVIOUS \| TOP \| CONTENTS \| NEXT

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