our killer stalks
green field high street
takes us away
in one heartbeat

sunk in a dark
bottomless pit
we see and smell
fate’s gilded shit

so hard to feel
joie de vivre
when everywhere’s
evil fever

on a dizzy
downward spiral
like a virus
growing viral

fearful we pray
in church or mosque
trembling behind
a happy mask

a glassy eye
a frozen kiss
always too late
you can’t hear this

all part of life’s
rich tapestry -
your trite mantra
ends since you’re free 

forged from fire air
water the earth
elemental
is your new birth

i’m sure you thought
just yesterday
it could be worse
to sleep’s to die

many years past
already gone
goodbye now you’re
absent again