Getting Used To Death
Long, drawn out or quick and sudden?
Which would I prefer?
Long, drawn out gets friends and family used to it-
The chronic it. Grateful when you’ve gone –
Glad that the suffering is over
(For the other and themselves);
Daily visits, altered schedules,
Shifts from love’s devotedness
To medical frustrations, system weaknesses
That make one mad;
All over with and terminated.
Long gives time for settlement: insurance, testament;
Allows for karmic caring, showing
Love long put to bed.
Long gives sacrifice a shine.
Long is a great revealer. And
The chosen one can choose the kind
Of funeral and casket. And,
(If one has nerve to ask) command
Donation or cremation or the ordinary earth.
A long, drawn out passing-on has hope,
The chance to think forgiveness.
Quick is a shock that numbs.
Quick is another sorrow.
No tomorrow for a chat, that being that,
Things left undone, unsaid –resolved,
Quelled and dispelled ambition.
Quick spurns longtime-suffering,
Morphine dependence, side effects.
Quick has its points to favor it,
Embarrassment and diapered shit
A non-existent shame.
Quick is the name of she or he
Who laughed while waving, crossed a street,
Or said goodnight and never woke;
Whose brain still spoke,
Who had no time to fear.
Which one would I prefer,
(If I could choose at all?)
© Getting Used To Death 1.6.2008
Birth, Death & In Between;
Arlene Corwin
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Arlene Corwin Poetry 