{"id":439,"date":"2007-07-13T19:45:00","date_gmt":"2007-07-13T19:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gentlemancyclist.co.uk\/?p=439"},"modified":"2024-01-29T10:56:31","modified_gmt":"2024-01-29T10:56:31","slug":"dr-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gentlemancyclist.co.uk\/?p=439","title":{"rendered":"Dr Death"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Posted on 13 July 2007<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I found this on the internet somewhere while trawling about for another poem. I wish I’d made a note of who wrote it. It certainly wasn’t me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Death<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Doctor Death\u2019s out visiting
Maybe he\u2019ll call on you today
And leave the neighbours pondering
How suddenly you passed away.
You seemed quite well, and then you died.
The hearses glide down every street
Where people in the town of Hyde
And Doctor Death have chanced to meet.
The first one greets him at her door.
The second doesn\u2019t cry or cringe.
Another pulls her sleeve up for
Kind Doctor Death with his syringe.
A needle pricks the arm she bared
So simply and obediently.
She had no reason to be scared,
And now she\u2019s dead on her settee.
Kind Doctor Death is much admired.
He\u2019s rarely tired or agitated.
He signs the paperwork required
To get the evidence cremated.
The reaper\u2019s scythe goes swinging on,
Swiftly, sharply, no time to rust,
His black cowl hideous upon
The doctor they had come to trust.
For all his arrogant abuse
Of life and hope for healing care
He never offers an excuse.
Not one. Not even to declare:
\u201cMy way, their dignity\u2019s ensured.
What would they sooner have instead?
The underfunded general ward?
The geriatric cattle-shed?\u201d
His mind\u2019s a levelled graveyard, where
No human feelings can impinge.
So there is nothing left to scare
Kind Doctor Death with his syringe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted on 13 July 2007 I found this on the internet somewhere while trawling about for another poem. I wish I’d made a note of who wrote it. It certainly wasn’t me. Dr. Death When Doctor Death\u2019s out visitingMaybe he\u2019ll call on you todayAnd leave the neighbours ponderingHow suddenly you passed away.You seemed quite well, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gentlemancyclist.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gentlemancyclist.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gentlemancyclist.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gentlemancyclist.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gentlemancyclist.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=439"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gentlemancyclist.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":440,"href":"https:\/\/gentlemancyclist.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439\/revisions\/440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gentlemancyclist.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gentlemancyclist.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gentlemancyclist.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}