Poem Inspired by Kim Pham’s Decision to be an Organ Donor

April 29, 2014 – The poem below, “To be of use” by Hind Baki, was submitted to Donate Life California in the week leading up to the Donate Life Run/Walk at Cal State Fullerton on Saturday, April 26, 2014. It was written after an article in the Los Angeles Times by Anh Do that described the final hours in the hospital for Kim Pham, the young woman killed in a beating outside a Santa Ana nightclub on January 18, 2014, and how Kim’s choice to be an organ donor saved several lives. Nearly 100 of her family and friends walked in her honor at Saturday’s Donate Life Run/Walk. The family was presented a copy of the poem. We’re now sharing it with the Donate Life Community, with permission from the author.

To be of use

By Hind Baki
(Copyright April 2014)

In the country where I was born,
when all the neighbors came to mourn
they would fill our grieving days,
murmuring this Arab phrase:
“may the life be yours”

I didn’t understand it then,
but now that grief has come again,
I see the line continue,
connecting us like sinew.
What remains endures.

And that is why I cling to this,
my time on Earth, my right to bliss.
I will use each inch of me,
savor every memory.
All else will be yours.

Through the years, and what they’ve taken,
worn down, misused, pushed and shaken:
when it’s time to meet my fate,
I won’t need a single crate.
I will be just fine.

Take all of me that others need,
this skin, these eyes that loved to read.
I borrowed them; they’re on loan
just like this tissue and bone.
For a while, they’re mine.

Not yet—I still have much to do:
delight in songs, and dance with you,
words to write, and lips to kiss,
you under my fingertips.
My, how life’s divine!

High concentration of Azithromycin in infected tissues is also caused by the fact that phagocytes and macrophages transport it to the site of infection and release in the area of inflammation. Azithromycin is prescribed in case of illness or injury at the time.