IT IS DIFFICULT.....

From her sick-bed,  she said to me:
'It is difficult to remain passive,
And not to be happy
On seeing the sky
Through the rectangle of the window,
And feeling its blue infinity,
Along with the merriment of the clouds;
And on knowing the blooming of a flower
From a sudden whiff of fragrance
That comes  on the wings of the wind,
And then to silently hum in the mind
A pleasant poem of Wordsworth,
In spite of the gloom spread all over here,
In this drab hospital,
Under the shadow of lurking death,
Which keeps waiting for one last breath.'

                         ...Portia