we like to say—
as if joining the story
already in progress—
however nebulous,
humdrum, or rotten—
would align us
with its future twists
and keep us safe
from being forgotten.
*
There's a right way
and a wrong way
to get with the winning team.
You can urge on
your own undoing
like a Sophocles chorus,
or fly underneath
the swarming angels
of your doom,
then sink
to the bottom, try to
quorum-sense the storm.
*
In the best case,
death is a lot
like sleep:
less a shorting out
of focus
than a broadening
of attention—
a late-
in-the-third-act
realization
and acceptance of that
which has
already happened.
