By Jennifer Leong

(You may read the poem from the last line upwards as well)

First threshing
The failing limbs
No longer flail
No longer holding
On to the guard rails
And then the grasps
Beyond ailing
Loosen like a bracelet's clasp
Surrounded by doctors
And children in dual capacities
Do we still want to monitor
The signals and the use of tech

We don't need machines to tell us
What we already know
Let's stop counting
Breaths and heartbeats
We brace ourselves
Neither machine nor human can
Add anything to help him
Stop the gasps
None can stop him
Crossing the threshold
Of the doorway to eternity
What counts ultimately

Witnessing a dear one slipping away I feel is doubly hard if you are a doctor. And I am non-medical. There came a point where the children who are all doctors just knew there was no point having the monitors on anymore. It was time to just be children.

Jennifer Leong (Soy Avocado) created the DuaTresPentaStep poetic form which she attributes to divine inspiration. A Pushcart prize nominee, she co-founded the multi-disciplinary collaborative NoesisConverseNation, a fundraiser for Poetry Festival Singapore, of which she is part of the English SubCommittee. She is excited and grateful that her first poetry book, "Zero is Everything" will make its debut in Ireland in October 2026 and will be launched in Singapore at a later date.