Death Sentences
by Rich Murphy
Strip malls renovated into MedBed
Labor Motels that house suffering,
unmoneyed healthcare needs
for serious and debilitating illnesses.
“New Age” medicines, delivered
by Nones, visit in the aura rooms
where best wishes and worry beads
absorb the fret before what will.
The long slide from independent
living apartments to assisted living
to private room nursing home care,
accommodations that the wealthier
afford slips into a cemetery with ease.
Turned up noses at the “self-inflicted”
“didn’t work hard enough”
and “made poor choices” cohort
relax in pharmaceuticals personalized.
The kicking down never dies.
“All dead heads” a spry physician
might report at a crematorium
while snuggling into a career
as a patient concierge doctor
who shops around for the lame
who have deep pockets.
Rich Murphy’s latest collections are Elephant (Bass Clef Books, 2025), Inside Stories and Storage Shed (Resource Publications, 2024–2025), Susan Constant and Mind of Europe: A Genealogy to The Fat Man (Cyberwit, 2024–2025), First Aid and Footholds (Resource Publications, 2023), and Asylum Seeker (Press Americana, 2018). His first book was The Apple in the Monkey Tree (Codhill Press, 2007). His verse won The Poetry Prize at Press Americana twice for Americana and The Left Behind (Press Americana, 2014–2021). He has also won the Gival Press Poetry Prize for his collection Voyeur (Gival Press, 2009).
