It’s not like you get to bargain
with death. If you give it one little wink,
it will have you. It will take you
on its own terms, not on yours

But it’s not that death can win.
The enduring multiplicity of life
will keep doing as it always does,
branching out the possibilities.
Put all attention there, and you, too,
will keep on growing.

©Wendy Mulhern
February 24, 2022