I am a fleeting flame
to be blown out soon enough by
the same cosmic force
that infused me, enthused me,
pursued me while i was whiling
and whirling my way though
decades of days, each one
marked by 10 or more hours of bleak
darkness I dismissed as dreamland,
knowing, for sure, like everyone else,
that the high noon filled with sunshine
where I have lived inside a flimsy ego
mattered most, defined me as solid,
because why wouldn’t I choose to dance
with the soft, silky solace of delusion
in the face of sure annihilation?