I doubt my final credits
are quite ready to roll  
though   so far  

I’ve outlived John Donne’s span  
& that of so many of the poets
I admire   I can’t refute

that   far too soon   mid-
sentence   I will expire
Gluttonous death  

will make a meal of me  
& divide body   from soul  
make perhaps this very one  

my last breath   last scene  
last poem   which I hope
will be constructed well  

Far more of my life’s
in the take-up reel  
than in what’s to come  

which is no cause for despair  
as in anticipation   I prepare  
for the sequel

Photo by Jeremy Yap on Unsplash