will come when it’s ready
can’t be hurried or stopped
will be its own amazement.
What comes next
can’t be trapped
by some sly metaphor,
belongs to itself
comes from a great distance
enters without announcement.
When death comes
with a personal invitation
to leave this life,
may there be a working light
if I get up in the dark
to see who’s here.
Jeanne Lohmann
Olympia, Wash.
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