“I heard the old, old men say
‘Everything alters,
And one by one we drop away’”

- W. B. Yeats

One By One We Drop Away

We stand here
Hands in our pockets,
Witnesses to Death,
One by one we drop away,
Whose turn its next we know
But of what use is such knowledge,
We have no devises left with us,
We are impotent,
The best we can do
(To remind him
That it’s his turn next)
Is also the worst we can do,
So we do nothing,
We say nothing,
Stay rooted in a funeral charm,
Another spectacle to witness,
Another ritual to perform,
One by one we drop away.

9/9/2007