Levantine Arabic speakers say 'Ta'abrnee'
rarely,
during an outpouring of emotion.
They say, people say, it means
'you bury me'
That death is preferable to living without.

You,
you buried me.

I should have written my last will and testament
the day we met,
noticed the light just ahead when your hand took mine.
It was all too late,
as I lay 6 feet-under with our first kiss.

You dug my grave -
I can't blame you,
- she pulled the trigger.

A silent assassin.
Who was ever so willing
to wrap me up in a shower curtain
pulled down in haste,
and hide what was left of us.

Did it work, my sweet?
Or did I
bury you too?