Circling the Drain

Two very different quotes on dying today.

The first, a hospital nurse
to the bearded chaplain
requesting a visit for a patient
who is "circling the drain."

The second, a former theological student
quoting her teacher Paul Chilcote
who taught that Westerners tend to think of roses
reaching a point of perfection
and then
becoming less perfect
as they begin to decay.
Ah, but Eastern Orthodox thinkers...
see a rose
in its roseness
from bud to blossom to decay
perfect in every natural stage of beauty.