Only Death Wows Me
Hi, all. A couple of things. Only death wows me.
Mansions, big private yachts, I can appreciate
That stuff but it doesn't wow me. Not even birth,
Because first nothing is there, then something
Is there -- but once it's there it's like it's always
Been there, which doesn't wow me. With death
However something is there and then it isn't,
But in a weird way it's still there and maybe
Even more than before, like when you find
The dead person's false teeth lying around.
You know what else? Steve Jobs' last words
Were wow oh wow because he was so wowed
By the whole thing, which I can totally understand,
Because, as I mentioned, only death wows me.
Ed. note: "Only Death Wows Me" is a new poem and not included in the Collected Poems 2005-2020, about which you can read more here.
Wonderful!
Posted by: Tony Paris | March 12, 2021 at 10:24 AM
The details are mind-blowing. The false teeth of the dead. The last words of Steve Jobs. This poem wows me.
Posted by: clarinda harriss | March 13, 2021 at 11:51 AM
Life and death are inexorably entwined and both wow me as conjoined fates to all breathing souls.
Posted by: Joel Weiner | March 14, 2021 at 11:00 PM
I agree with Joel W.'s comment. Well-phrased!
Posted by: Warren King | March 15, 2021 at 08:22 AM