death woke me up
in the middle of the night

the moaning and wailing of our poor feral cats
in the cold and bitter wind.

winter takes what it will.

and then

flashing lights
a siren
an ambulence
a stretcher
a neighbor....

carried from their home into the dark cold night.

I am not ready to face
that someday my parents will be gone.

that someday, I too, will disappear.

I am afraid of death, but more afraid of life,
and
what I have to see,

to hold
and to lose.