a good german house/estate sale

did death creep in quietly
or did you just
wake up one morning
and surrender.
to dust, mildew,
and decay?

I hope you struggled
against the shroud,
with the same
enthusiasm for life
that made you buy a
chandelier
three times too big
for the dinning room and
40 cases of Cuban rum.

in the end,
I hope you chose life
even on nursing home truce-terms,
crazy, angry, alive,
aware of the price you paid

a free soul,your birthright
green to the end
in communion with
God and humanity
not stillborn into eternity
wrapped
in a precious chrysalis
of possessions
alone
on a cold
grey
January day.

honey bee irony

the honey bee
in sensuous and
intimate pleasure,
sips a little nectar
from the nipple
of each flower
and leaves
a fertile pollen-gift
from her dusty body
in return.

she,
consummating
the love affair
between others,
is yet unable
to share her own
with another,

being utterly
other,

alone.

how ironic
that she
should be
a symbol of fertility!