elegy

this afternoon i stepped outside --
finding myself in need of breath --
and between the passing of cars --
in my mind’s only empty corner --

perceived a leaf’s
flutter flicker
on a branch

tkksttttkksssss

i took a stick
and nudged it free
and it spun
awkwardly
haphazardly
a dusty moth
hell-bent
to the ground.

O
venerable leaf
your life cut short
by the season’s change
the shortening of the days
the tired, dark rotting of your skin
that used to be yellow and pink and green
now covered in black nail polish
and coarse white hairs
we pray you sweet farewell
on your journey
to god’s waiting arms.

in his name
we pray
amen!

aaaaaeeeeeyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeemeeeeennnnnnnn

this afternoon -- i stepped outside --
(i felt a funeral in my brain) --

“And hit a World, at every plunge
And Finished knowing -- then --”

then --
then --
then --

(Curtain falls).