life will mock you
as it does me.

will drag your aunt from the world
as joints burn down to fingertips
overlooking a valley
800 feet above sea level,
the only clouds distant & below,
sun hung high to your rear.

will strand you by the sea
bitter with salt & fortune.

life:
a wicked bullet spinning in the chamber of a revolver,
the ways to die beyond measure.

she went screaming at her brother
in a haze of confusion.

“gary? gary?
what’s happening gary?
what’s happening?
what’s happening?”

what does the reverend offer his wilting sister?

“nothing you need worry about right now.”
voice easy & gentle
as the dandelion is scattered by the wind.

you cannot shake what the mind latches onto.
her sunken eyes,
starved arms & face.
her mother’s reflection.

last moments of a sunset
dipping below final horizon.