I wrote a letter in my dream last night 

The truth be told it was a farewell 

To someone I couldn’t leave without explanation 

The words eloquent and flowing 

Spoke to my tightrope walk

Between present and eternity 

Hopefulness and hopelessness

It was such a wonderful composition 

Whose life was measured in

The length of a dream

If only I would recall the words 

When the time finally comes.

Another day another dream

A practical exercise in wrapping 

Up a life that has lost

It’s desire, it’s purpose 

It seems like it should have taken hours 

To “put my affairs in order”

Yet with so little to arrange 

It should have taken but minutes. 

There’s enough in the bank to 

Put me in the ground or

Reduce me to ashes. 

With enough left for dinner and a few drinks. 

A few possessions, an antique or two and my words. 

Give away the artwork 

Clear away the mementos gathered

On the bulletin board 

Find a relative or two to give shelter

To the few bits of family history remaining. 

Give the rest away

or throw it away and call it a day. 

So little to show for a lifetime 

But what about the words 

Curated and saved so carefully,

Would they mean anything 

To anyone but me?

Add them to the funeral pyre

And declare the job complete.