Astonished Moment

Death is the flag around which
no one rallies
A closed circle, once a man
and twice a child
Life is after all a fatal disease
with no cure in sight
Some just getting on with it
quicker than others

It's a reasonable expectation
this dimming of lights
A time in one's eighties or nineties
to turn in a passport
Hoping the switch will not be pulled
in mid step on the stair
surprising ourselves and others
at the sudden darkness

So if I'm caught a continent away
in an astonished moment
Then know how much I loved you
each of you, all of you
That another letter lies half written
meant for the morning mail
And there probably is postage due
along with so much more