Easeful Death

What a relief to lie down finally,
a No Code behind a curtain,
a hiker slipping off a cliffside trail

or party guest lit like a flambe and pitching forward
off a melting balcony—so many ways
to end, but in the end no one tells you

to butch it up, no one rousts you
from the cozy satin lining of the coffin.
Forget the crematorium,

for there they'll be, your loved ones,
scrabbling in the urn for a bit of you
to rub between their fingers.

How much more pleasant to be lowered
into a scraped-clean slot of ground,
the last weirdly-shaped piece of your life

tapped into place, the picture completed,
all your longing discarded
and left for the living, like the clothing

your friends will pick through,
keeping the things that fit,
forgetting they used to be yours.

Copyright © 2007 Kim Addonizio All rights reserved
from Five Points
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission