When even before the dawn

did awaken me as a babe...

Death was light years away,

smiling seriously across all time,

silently whispering:

I’ll be seeing you someday.

Until then, He directed me -

follow Poe

to a kingdom by the sea.

A promise waits below,

for you and your Annabel Lee.

Later, when the sun arose,

i, a wonder child,

watched myself as shadow,

cast from the moon.

Quietly, Death followed:

I will see you soon.

He cooed hush into my ears,

as fever burned still hotter -

just follow Holling’s tears

back into the water.

Years later, in a lust-lit noon

reserved only for youth invincible,

Death and i secretly agreed:

If She came just a little closer,

O! For certain, i'd be freed.

We flirted often then,

rocked so hard with Dylan Thomas,

danced wildly in delight -

Rage, Rage

against the dying of the light!

Middle-aged now,

(of course, divorced).

Death current with the living -

in loss, in lessons,

in rivers of regret.

The Reaper sends me blessings

crying me a river with each tear

In evening words that curiously compel -

like a balloon on the edge of a knife,

like a husband mourning his late wife

She quotes Wes Tyrell:

"Those who fail to see the beauty of Death

are missing the poignancy of life."

Now here i sit and steer

having weathered many storms.

From the stern of golden years,

i know Death in countless forms.

Now, beckoning me to bed -

She kisses me on the mouth,

sucks me east and west,

strokes me north and south.

Lo! Heroically, i lay claim -

(As in George R.R. Martin's Game)

There is only one God!

Her name is Death!

Though She keeps calling us to play,

There is only one thing we say.

To Death, we say:

Not today.

Embracing then my precious life,

as exhaled sweetly through a fife -

though merely instrument to Her,

smiling at Death, i cause a stir.

She smiles back, playing me hard -

another marlin, baited for the fight,

thrashing, gleaming! in my disregard,

flashing silver, keen and bright.

Death has had me hooked since birth,

as all who swim in splashing earth.

Yet She grants my unspoken wish,

as She does for every fish.

Now i landed, weighed and measured.

Now i stranded, full and pleasured.

Death - a man, rowing day and night.

Death - a woman, flowing dark and light.

Though Death is what we make of It,

ripple or tsunami, we each submit.

Shuddering, warm wet waves until -

finally, surrendering, i am still.

Now, just floating in my canoe,

enjoying my last breath or two.

My Death, now as My Life -

most colourful, most glorious.

Leaving my every song and strife

surfing Her aurora borealis.

Orange sinking from horizon's sight,

deep purple tuning up the night.

A red zeppelin's map unfurls -

how we carved out green new worlds,

in the deep tidal blue wake of wonder

with a yellow moon left to ponder.

Now rolling over Her,

billows of black and white,

feeling blessed and grateful,

slowly i fade from sight.

Death, an endless ocean,

swallowing the stars and me.

Gone now this age old longing

for my own sweet Annabel Lee.

D’yer Maker?

oh oh baby -

every breath i take,

every move i make,

always within reach,

paddling to the sea.