Carole Maso — Death Was Something We Once Invented

On such a clear day it is possible to believe

that we will live forever,

that death was something we once invented,

long ago, on a lazy summer afternoon

when we had nothing better to do—

a way to add texture, dimension,

a way to change the pace of our lilting lives.

On such a day it is possible to believe

that sorrow will turn into one great vapor

and blow off and be gone forever;

that the childhood dream of fire

will turn out to mean nothing in the end;

and that our deaths,

if they must be,

will be timely,

after eighty,

and while we sleep.

Carole Maso

Ghost Dance