“WHEN READING THE OBITUARIES” by John Grey

Watch out for the young ones.
If it doesn’t say,
after a long illness,
it means a sudden OD.
If there’s no fatal car crash
in the local news,
then he was found
three days later,
in his grubby apartment,
rigid as an ironing board,
smelling like human waste.
If the obituary is brief,
it’s because many have 
disowned him,
or taken their fall
in advance of his.
If there’s no wake,
then there’s little left
for waking. 
If there’s no wake,
then let that be
a wakeup call. 

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