Intermission

You wake up rested,
Feeling pretty good,
And think, Really?

This is the body
That’s supposed to be
Dying?

Outside, clouds and moon,
Crickets chorusing
On a warm night breeze—

Pretty much the same
Pretty old nothing much
As ever,

And since you’re not
In pain right now,
Not hunched over

Sick on the toilet,
Not fetal in bed,
Not muzzy-headed

For the moment, it’s almost
Like you never were.
Admonish

Yourself to savor
The interlude,
The quiet pause

In the proceedings
That will resume soon—
Prolonged descent’s

A show in which
The intermission
Is the best part.