Poem: 16 / I Hear Nearby

I hear nearby
firing squad bullets

meant for me

I am elsewhere

All my deeds in a little box
in my heart

There are trees in full leaf
and meadows in full bloom

Nothing ripples like a horse’s back
bounding through the air

I soar over oceans
to get nearer to sky

the waves below
don’t even see me go

Though the bullets get nearer
I’m their superior

My metal harder than theirs
my swift spirit swifter in dispersal

I’m already air

Only God is near
nearer and nearer

They whistle as they work
coming toward me

But my whistle is higher
and clearer

Whole cities have risen and
fallen into ruin

and not a moment has passed
whole populations disappeared

and appeared again
all different faces

and all the same spirit

Nothing really disappears
once it is

I think they’re about to
reach their mark

but I’m not here

dyed in
God’s color
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5/29/12 (morning of first Chemo & radiation therapies)