The smell of wet
Rotting leaves and mud

Death, followed by Life
Until it is not

Each cycle is the same
Until it is not

Milky and sulphurous, Life flows
Until it does not

Death is not waiting
Death is running alongside
A step ahead
Watching for an opportunity
To cut me off

The end will be sudden
The end will be painful
The end will be a comfort
The end will be momentous
Until it is not

I am wary
Watching death, peripherally

If I speed up
To a step ahead
I may be tripped up
From behind

If I change lanes
To confront directly
I may be waylaid
Death may simply stop
And wait

No, I must continue
In my lane
Warily
Peripherally
With confidence

I see others
Running alongside
Their personal death

Some, a step behind
Some, a step ahead

I pass some, stopped
Confronting
Or pleading

I see some, fearful
Not looking back
Trying to outrun

The inevitable

I see death
Over and over and over again
Biding his time
Sadly smiling to herself
Knowing

The end is sudden
The end is painful
The end is a comfort
The end is momentous
Until it is not