I Have My Health

They’re all going to die alone

And unhappy

And there’s nothing

That can be done about that

I was sitting in my deathbed

Before I recovered

Thinking about how

My third cousin died

Alone

Because he wouldn’t speak

With anybody in the family

After we refused

To acknowledge

That he wanted to be thought of

As Batman

That wasn’t a name change

Or an identity crisis

He wanted to be looked at

And thought of

As a maniacal millionaire

Who fights crime

As a side hobby

We wouldn’t do that

And so he exiled himself

Away from us

And he died alone

And unhappy

Same thing with his father

Who chose to live alone

And die alone

And live unhappy

And die unhappy

Because nobody liked his wife

Including him

But how dare the rest of us

Feel that way

About the woman

He was unhappily married to

We accepted her

Or we were gone

And so we were gone

And a year or two

After we were gone

He and his wife separated

And both died alone

And unhappy

Everyone in the family

Dies alone

Or unhappy

And the only solace there is

In thinking about that

Is knowing

That very few people

Die with a smile on their face

Unless they die like Great-Aunt Cecile

Who died in the throes of passion

But even she was apart from all of us

At the time

Because we wouldn’t consent

To her treating her sex-butler

As some kind of husband

But I suppose she died happy

And not alone

Which is more than you can say

For most of the people

On the ever-spinning death orb

We call a planet

Most of us are going to be alone

Because your last moment

Is spent with your eyes closed

And your mind feeble

And your hearing diminished

So I’m sure you feel quite isolated

Regardless of how many people

Are around you

When you go

When I nearly went

My eyes were open

And my mind was sharp

And my hearing was better than ever

Because someone finally thought

To clean out my ears

And so I sat up in my hospital bed

And thought--

I CAN’T DIE LIKE THIS

I’M NOT EVEN ALONE
AND I DON’T EVEN FEEL UNHAPPY

I didn’t want to die

With a little bit of happiness

Left in me

And aware

That I still have people

Who want to stand alongside me

As I approach oblivion

Somehow in knowing

That death could be unhappy

I neglected to realize

That there is something

Beyond unhappy

And that even as your life

Is about to finish up

It’s still possible

For it to get

So much worse

That was when I recovered

And I’ve felt great ever since

But I know eventually

I’ll wind up

Just like my grandparents

And my parents

And my siblings

And their in-laws

And my neighbors

And everyone else

Who tries and fails

To forget

That life moves unsparingly

Towards despair

Until then, I have my health

For whatever

That’s worth