Monday Night Poem

 

Lately an alarming number of friends

And friends from way back have been

Crossing over, and I have to think about

Their lives and what we may have meant

To each other, so I am in the death era

Of my life which precedes the acceptance

Of the same—I am old enough to reach

These days, but I sure don’t feel it—many

Of my friends who were killing themselves

Are not anymore, a consolation, a hedge

Against the imminent—I joined them

Several years ago, hesitantly—I can’t run

And I don’t dance, but I keep moving,

And I say the words I’ve always said

To myself—stay positive, read your weight,

Speak your truth and don’t stay up late.