NOT LATE

He is not late.

 

He passed

From the road he’d kept for another day.

 

He passed on

Heroic measures.

 

He passed

The test?

 

He did not lose a long battle,

Because he did not go to war with the unwinnable.

 

He is survived by

A squadron of oxygen tanks, reams of Kleenex,

And a platoon of pills.

 

He left behind

His handsomeness,

his hollow lungs,

hunched shoulders,

a wicked sense of humor.

 

Early, he said,he asked God only for courage and grace.

Later: “I fell short on grace,”

His courage redeemed my cowardice.

 

He’s gone

From the living room.

 

He is not late.

He is never this late.