Acknowledgement

All life has to end by dying,
But if you could be a story
And select a spot for stopping,

Would you look back on what you’ve lived
So far and see you’ve passed that spot?
Or would you gamble your ending,

Your ideal place to wrap it up,
Hasn’t been quite located yet?
Hard to say, given the body

Is not a story, and is built
To keep on going in the teeth
Of increasing unhappiness,

Gambler scrounging for anything
To put down on another round.
Happy endings are good enoughs—

Let the narrative wrap up here,
A good point with a bright future,
A vague one at least, the crises

Settled and behind you for you now—
You can scan your past and find some
Moments where a story ended

Well, maybe told them yourself.
Then, like any good novelist,
You added your acknowledgements.