Poet Mark Doty’s “Brilliance” shows a dying man changing his perspective near the end of life. In Doty’s poem, the man has “attended to everything, / said goodbye to his parents, / paid off his credit card.” He gives away his pets, finds the risk of owning too great, realizes that he “can’t have anything.” When someone suggests he get a bowl of goldfish, he replies “he doesn’t want to start / with anything….” For just a moment, the man allows himself to imagine the goldfish he might like: “hot jewel tones, / gold lacquer.” The fantasy, though, is fleeting because “I can’t love / anything I can’t finish.” Eventually he recants that decision, saying “Yes to the bowl of goldfish. / Meaning: let me go, if I have to, / in brilliance.”
Writing Prompt: Have you ever been at a place in your life when you didn’t want to start with anything new? What prompted that feeling? If you’re a medical provider, think of a time you’ve seen a shifting perspective in patients near the end of life. Write for 10 minutes.