Life in Death

I have seen life cast in the shadow of death.

it has shattered my delusions

where I thought I desired control, cleanliness, order.

I have wept for the discarded sock

the unfinished list

the handwritten proof

something which is gone

once existed.

Perhaps I am the mad one

to fill as I do

with devotion for the mess

left behind by my living loved ones

for how they are loud in the house

alive to disturb my stillness

somehow it's a disturbance that feeds my peace.

I have seen the mess of life cast in the shadow of death

and I beg the gods

for the mess to go on

one more

precious day.