“things will be so much better then”

proclaimed the dying sage

her declaration sure and certain

how strong the words

belying the papery thinness

of her withering husk.

her whispers rattled as I

read them, steadying my shaky

heart, rapt across the miles.

i swiped backhanded at doubts

dripping wayward tears

mortified at my wet-noodled spine

she is tranquil in contemplation

of her death (permanent)

while i am moldering

rank and stagnant

in the aftermath of mine

(though my death was the temporary kind)

on that steel stool

in my concrete cage

better was beyond the ken

a theoretical construct

like relativity or the Big Bang

which i believe exists on an astral plane

other than where i reside, somewhere

• out there

(though let me tell you about a Big ass Bang!)

yet she averred to me

hope and constancy

this woman wise and warm

from the glowing embers

of…