Encouragement for the Dead

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ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE DEAD


None of this is going to work

out. The boat will sink,

or the boat will float another


hundred years before 

it sinks. The house will uncover

a fix you can’t afford, 


or maybe you fix the house

and it affords you a dry place

to fall apart, covered from the rain. 


The garden will slowly be overrun 

by rabbits when your fingers

are too arthritic to pull the trigger


of the pellet gun, or maybe

you pull the trigger of the

pellet gun and hit a rabbit


who has a thousand rabbit

relatives: the garden will be 

overrun. Eventually, 


with your consent or without it, 

you’ll get up one night

or in the morning and wander off 


into the woods to see for yourself 

where the sound of the waterfall

is coming from. You’ll 


leave the door open behind 

you and the air conditioning 

will slip out like a breath 


between the ribs. So breathe

easy, friend. You’re dead already. 

You can never die. Fear not.


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