There Is No Arguing His Dependency

In this case the patient is a severely brain
damaged motor vehicle accident victim.
No memory remains, he is unable to state
a defence – had he the capacity, and whether
to blame or deserving a form of compensation
is unknown or at least uninvestigated.

His stay in hospital demonstrates he needs
24 hour specialised care, and to be trained
in self sufficiency. Bureaucracy claims no
training facility exists so he is released; he is 22 –
your son or mine, but due to this iniquity and
budgetary exigencies in play onus shifts

to whomever compassionately claims the
animate corpse of a man barely into his life.
It is his mother who fills the space vacated.
He is not a Ward of the State, falls away from
its benevolence, and she is unsupported yet
there is no arguing his dependency.

It is sure to engender spirited debate in rarefied
atmosphere of Parliament’s Ivory Towers, or wear
sharp invective in the Halls of Power from bastard
reptilian bureaucrats who’ll think with relief –
Thank God he’s not my son!
© I.D. Carswell 2007-02-09