You know, it's strange
How you can be aware of your
Own mortality
And it is a weightless thing
A breeze through an open window
That slams a door unexpectedly
And we all laugh

But how sometimes it can settle
Solidly in your lap like a kitten with black fur
Or a wounded bird with ****** breast and bent wing
Making itself known
Corporealizing into a barnacle on the brain
Or in the valves of your heart
Giving itself gravity

It hovers over you the day you're born
A raincloud filled with paint thinner
Stripping your layers away
As all the minutes that won't come back
Seep between the cracks and down drains

It's also strange
That this feral frailty chooses to expose itself
Either in your happiest moments
When joy swells in your guts like an inflating balloon
Or in the quietest
At 2:03 am
When the fan is running and the clock
Slaves away methodically on the far wall

Regardless
It's there
It will always be there
Whether you want it to or not
So let the kitten lie
Ring the wounded birds neck
And
Hold out your arms when the cloud belches
Its preemptive warning

The rain will fall
So will we.