January 31, 1991
I speak directly into your ear
and your head twitches, then pivots,
your mouth gaping as if surprised.
But there are no surprises here.
You are childlike and helpless
so I kiss you. Your cheek is whiskered
and warm, your skin a thin casing
barely holding the heat and bones
that want so badly to leave.
As you focus above me, staring
at something I cannot yet see,
I tell you exactly what I am doing.
More for my benefit than yours.
To excuse this invasion of privacy.
Death seems a formality now.
It is the dying that I'll remember.
With each full breath
you move further away.
(from the chapbook LAUGHING IN ITS FACE, 1994; photo by ???; photo (detail) by me)
I speak directly into your ear
and your head twitches, then pivots,
your mouth gaping as if surprised.
But there are no surprises here.
You are childlike and helpless
so I kiss you. Your cheek is whiskered
and warm, your skin a thin casing
barely holding the heat and bones
that want so badly to leave.
As you focus above me, staring
at something I cannot yet see,
I tell you exactly what I am doing.
More for my benefit than yours.
To excuse this invasion of privacy.
Death seems a formality now.
It is the dying that I'll remember.
With each full breath
you move further away.
(from the chapbook LAUGHING IN ITS FACE, 1994; photo by ???; photo (detail) by me)
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