This poem is so touching, and particularly personally to me. Before my late husband Lenny died, he had an artificial mitral valve the ticked in his chest like a clock. When we knew his days were running short, I would lay my head on his chest and listen to the tick tock, tick tock, tick tock of his life.

And then one day when there were no more ticks left to tock, when his clock literally stopped, his chest became silent and cold while his memories stayed alive in my own heart.