Didn’t notice
how late it was.
Yes, I attend more funerals
than weddings these days.
Spend more time with the obits
than the living.

But you know how it is.
You get caught up in something,
like breathing for example,
or preparing that meal
because of how hungry you are
or remembering incidents
from your rambunctious childhood
and you forget
to take note of the calendar.

I thought dawn
was merely the start
of another day
not an erasing
of one of the days remaining.
I figured the truth
was just me
going about my routine.
But it was becoming
more of a lie
with every ache in the bone,
pain in the pancreas.

Didn’t see it coming
even though
I was looking
in the direction it
was coming from.

That’s the way it is though.
Can’t see something coming
when it’s here already.