i dance with death

by Elise Mccullough

i dance with death because
she is the only thing keeping me alive
and in death’s face i see my love
i see the champagne-tinged blush to her cheeks
in the hazy carnage staining cracked earth
i hear her sweet soprano voice echoing in deadly harmonies, crescendoing
when missiles sprinkle bodies across the ground
like a flower girl sprinkling cherry blossoms
across a desolate cathedral
war jets sing overhead
like an ethereal choir of bluebirds

death, my hidden lover, the
only lover who stays after
her last dance eases me underground
i wonder when she will reveal her true face
and whether i will like her
whether i will plead for mercy
and whether she will give it
or whether she would love me too much
to let me escape her waltz again

death told me to laugh
when i was supposed to cry;
she told me to live
when i was supposed to die
i dance with death because
she is the only thing keeping me alive

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