*****

ALIVE

i.m. Carla Scarano D’Antonio (1962-2023)

Most people I know are alive. They are grateful
when they wake to find they’re still alive
And I am grateful, too, when Frances wakes me from my dream
where I just keep falling and falling, with both my wings blown off,
falling and screaming and waving my arms
above the ground that will swallow me up

This morning I told Alexa “I’m glad I’m alive”
I spoke to my daughter, Claire, who said
“I can hear my girls upstairs, they’re alive”
My son, Simon, was on a video call, he’s alive
I phoned Greg and David, they were both alive
and then I checked my Facebook feed: Carrie, Peter, Nick, Maureen –
all of them still alive. My nephew posted
If a necrophiliac’s on the loose, all you can do is look alive

I walked down the stairs and kicked the dog…