When Death Comes
By Lynne D. Soulagnet
Will I sense some vague foreboding
like a warning, a premonition
feel the darkness approach
like a fog, a mist entering
every pore of my skin
or will it strike quickly
with the swift stealth of a hawk
swooping down on its prey
unaware it has been taken
or will I watch, wait
like a stalked gazelle
every muscle, every nerve
awake, on alert
maybe I will grapple and rail
as my body betrays me—
a battle I will surely lose
perhaps the Greeks had it right
holding destiny in their hands
claiming the power to choose
what was denied at birth
but even when the cup
is empty, the I that is me
for a brief moment
will cling to the honeyed
taste of life while the sweetness
remains on my tongue
like a warning, a premonition
feel the darkness approach
like a fog, a mist entering
every pore of my skin
or will it strike quickly
with the swift stealth of a hawk
swooping down on its prey
unaware it has been taken
or will I watch, wait
like a stalked gazelle
every muscle, every nerve
awake, on alert
maybe I will grapple and rail
as my body betrays me—
a battle I will surely lose
perhaps the Greeks had it right
holding destiny in their hands
claiming the power to choose
what was denied at birth
but even when the cup
is empty, the I that is me
for a brief moment
will cling to the honeyed
taste of life while the sweetness
remains on my tongue
Lynne D. Soulagnet is a native New Yorker who grew up in Dix Hills on Long Island where she worked for many years as a nurse caring for people in all stages of life. She is active in numerous poetry venues on the island and is a member of Performance Poets Association, L.I. She has been published in Adelaide Literary Magazine, Paumanok: Interwoven, The Avocet, Better Than Starbucks and many others.