think twice
dusk arrives unannounced
followed by cat calls & bird songs
filtering in thru the cracked window
had I not destroyed myself
just before the dawn
did not the moon inform me
you’re finished once & for all
my vision blurred & my voice raspy
the blood in my veins
still flowing freely
I find myself back to life
back to my somewhat former self
at the window I peer past the shade
— there appears the moon
nothing like I remembered
deaf & dumb & barely visible
painted the dullest gray
talk now I say
tell me about this immortality
you had promised
made possible you said
by the hangman’s noose
the very one inside this room
at the foot of the bed
march two thousand twenty-three
copyright j matthew waters
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