New poem: "One Breath Away"

 

One Breath Away

 

I felt it the other day,

that I’m only one breath

away from dying contentedly;

but I could not stop thinking

of an iconic writer whose

last breath left him bereft of

meaning— “For life’s a shabby

subterfuge. /And death is real,

and dark, and huge.” He had

enough faith to believe; but his

celebrated life belied his faith:

in his heart he harbored the

antinomian lie that raped his

soul, as he had raped life

with his writing.