PENINSULA

PENINSULA

I want to die on a peninsula,
Or better yet an island,
Removed from civilization,
Surrounded by water and sand.

I want to die a free man,
Away from the mechanical and mean,
Where arrogant doctors cannot reach me,
With their paddles and their machines.

I want to live on a peninsula,
Or better yet an island.
Surrounded by a few close friends,
And the space to say goodbye in.
To soar with the gulls above the sea,
To hear them call me tenderly,
Teaching the earth a song to sing,
To complete its turn around the sun,
To comfort it before I'm done
Before I spread my gilded wings 
Somewhere close to Saturn's ring.

I want to walk around on my peninsula,
Thoughtful and alone,
Until the rightful owners come
To knock me off my throne.
Gleefully they will pummel me,
May even knock me down,
Until I fall right off my island
And in its waters drown.
Mercifully I will die and mercifully rise,
In my island paradise,
Framed by the bluest skies.

I want to live and not hesitate,
To die and gladly levitate,
To float with grace in hallowed space
With nothing in between,
Nothing but the water,
And the cool volcanic green.

-Bruce Potts
Copyright 2015
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED