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Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her v206 4/23 Down in the Dirt issue/book “Floating Island” poems “Oganesson, bending time inside” (which is also in her book “Twitter Verse Periodic Table Poetry”), “Potassium Chloride” (which is also in her book “Periodic Table Poetry”), “Only If She Had a Choice” and “Evil of What They’ve Done” (which is also in the 2023 CyberWit.net book “Testament”) during her “Poetic License 4/2/23 global open mic” she hosted through a Zoom meeting and a Facebook event page (filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). This was also a Facebook live video stream (on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuyperstwitterverseperiodictablepoem #janetkuypers #janetkuypersperiodictablepoem #janetkuyperspoeticlicense #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuyperswomensrights

Only If She Had a Choice Janet Kuypers 10/19/22 She didn’t give me any signs, Not ones I could decipher. But the animal kingdom has a Universal way of letting you know When someone wants to die. — She never said a word to me, She only complained, groused, So I fretted, worrying until I Seized the first chance to take her To a doctor. After nearly a day of Her not eating or even drinking water, Doctors gave me three potential Outcomes depending on lab results. Well, of course, it ended up the Worst prognosis, and doctors were Stunned she remained as alive And as functioning as she did Before she decided to not eat, give up, to refuse liquids, give in. Thinking back, I can see the signs, Her not eating certain foods Even just licking the juices Off her main courses, and I hoped that would be enough, That she’d still get the nutrients She’d need. I’d throw away Half of her food, and I’d think That this should still be enough, She should still be fine. And she never told me of her pain, Never said a god-damned word, And literally just a day before This whole fiasco started She was still playing, running With us, enjoying the games We played. She may have seemed A little more tired, but we should Expect that, she’s getting up In years, but they say staying Active is good for you, so we Thought we were only doing What’s best. We didn’t know. How could we know, when she Never gave us a thought about it, About her pain, about her Wanting to die. For once we Knew the full diagnosis, we Knew her options of living Were so slim that if we paid Thousands she would still Probably only live for less Than a week. So now, Unlike what many people have the Option to do, we had to consider What she wanted. Consider What was best for her. At this brief moment We held her life in our hands — A life she put further in Jeopardy, to share what time She had left with us — My god, how selfish of us, Thinking her life should be Prolonged longer, just to Appease our moral dilemma With her dying, and holding on For us. — Sometimes the most rational Choices are the hardest to make. Us stupid humans have emotions, Our hearts breaking when a Loved one is on death’s door. But when they hide it from you Because they don’t want you Too see their pain, because They don’t want you to hurt, Because they want this togetherness To last, against all odds— That is when your rational Mind knows what is best (Whether or not any outdated Moral codes agree), because... you Know it is time to say goodbye.

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