The signpost a warning
a resting black swan
Its flight to perdition
last call from beyond
With roses ungifted,
their thorns bury deep
Last moon a reminder
a reckoning steep
The doctor’s watch broken
your time shorter still
His prognosis a token
beyond suture or pill
He asks if you’re ready,
you say that you’re not
You ask if it matters…
the main lesson untaught
And into the night
you try once again
To find deeper meaning
to reach beyond blame
But those last final minutes
only serve to remind
What the jaded and hoping
—are never to find
(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2014)
