Death waits

for JKD

She likes poets,

writers in general,

because they expect her,

don’t pretend she’s

not coming, don’t dismiss

her constant intimacy,

her concern for their

welfare and well-being.

She hasn’t much use

for those she takes

by surprise; that whole

denial, anger, bargaining

crowd. She finds tedious,

people who have to work

their way to the inevitable.

She figures – it’s not like

she’s hiding, not an

“if,” but a “when.”

Poets get this.

She’s been waiting

their whole lives.

Douglas K Currier holds an MFA in Poetry from the University of Pittsburgh and writes poetry in English and Spanish. He has published in several journals: The Café Review, Main Street Rag, The Comstock Review, and others, as well as in the anthologies: Onion River: Six Vermont Poets, Getting Old, Welcome to the Neighborhood, and Poemas Zafados in North and South America. He lives with his wife in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.