does_death_have_a_rattle birdmad yes, it does. it is the sound of irreversible respiratory failure, especially audible in those who are breathing with mechanical assistance the lungs fill up with fluid and each exhalation is the echo of those drowning breaths rattling in the dry mouth and throat (bottled oxygen causes dry mouth and throat) at my father's bedside, the respirator churned and rattled like a smaller version of the diesel engines of the trucks he saw every day, loading, unloading, driving, supervisiing the crew, working the cargo manifests thirty six hours of degenerative delerium after thirty two months of hard nights and false hopes...his Thirty six hours of death-rattle...we waited and finally, it was over...for him. Later, though, the trial would begin again 08/26/37 - 04/03/90 000921 what's it to you? who go blather from