Digital Rabbit Hole

On His Death Bed by Mikines

He died…
but not before he said goodbye
to everyone and everything
he knew and loved.
Sadness came and went
perfuming the air
around his final breath,
but there was more….

Was it the color
of the room
or the choice
of music playing
that helped them
all forget that they were
standing at the deathbed
of someone,
who had touched
them to the core?
He was not in pain
not at the end;
in some ways,
he had already left,
his worn-out form
shrinking smaller
and smaller,
while Death…
was in the corner,
holding out her hand.

Later people would talk
of it… of that day
when the sun flared
and everyone felt
a little giddy…
like they knew each other
for at least one lifetime,
much like roots
connecting and interlacing
tying all the trees together
in loose knots.
Not related by blood
but by luck.
The good luck of knowing
that shrinking figure
in a white gown,
now
slipping away
from the talk
and the tears
and
the music.

Where was the why of this?

Because everyone
in that sunlight parlor
had loved him
at some time,
in their own way,
long times for years,
or a fleeting moment
for a day…
or in other lives,
perhaps lived before.
Who can say?
At some point,
each of their lives had
sparkled
a little brighter
tears formed
a little bigger
when they parted…
because he brought passion
to the stage
and
everyone in this
sad
dreary,
sick,
day and age,
was starving
for some of that.

Say what you may,
no one ever forgot him…
and when it was talked about
months later
what a singular death
in such a beautiful
sun’lit room,
with just the perfect music
so harmonious in vibration
and everyone there was so gentle
and special
as if picked by hand carefully
one by one
and stored in his story…
Some, remarked
as they always did,
“Oh yes,
what a beautiful
death he had,”
But the wiser ones
nodded knowingly…
“On the contrary,
“What a beautiful life he lived”.

Karima Hoisan
January 22, 2022
Costa Rica