When my mother
was dying, in Peoria
I used to sit on
her porch,
Smoke cigarettes
Watch the sky
Across the road
A guard light
flickered
Its warning to a
tree limb's intrusion
I sat and smoked
cigarettes
And waited for
her to die
All the time
Every night
In the darkness
As I sat and
waited
Alone
Smoking
cigarettes
Wrapped in self
pity and fear
And doubt
And dread of the
unknown passage
And separation
from this woman
I never knew
All alone
Every night
From her
neighbor's porch
Came the
merciless ringing,
Chiming
Ringing
Of Chinese wind
chimes
And now
When I hear them
ring
I think of
smoking cigarettes
And waiting to
die!
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