the poetry of death
who writes the poetry of death?
is it the priests of glass
in their churches of false prophecy and tainted hope
or the teen-ager who sits alone
in the lunchroom, the shopping mall, the city park,
the one who tries to find a voice
with which to speak her tortured soul
and relieve a burden no human soul should bear?
the poetry of death is written by all,
the words a collective reminder
of the fragility of the human soul,
whose tendency to shatter
under the slightest of pressure
reminds us that none of us are truly alone
that we are united in our suffering and pain
and the universal poetry of death
sashay.