Before Death

a man and his wish list before his death

Before death
you wanted to kiss

the girl in the lift
whom you rode with

silently each day,
wanted to read

War and Peace,
wanted to listen

to the whole
of Wagner’s Ring,

wanted to write a poem
in Japanese,

touch the dress
Marilyn Monroe

wore in that famous film,
feel the embrace

of your late father’s arms.
Before death

you wanted to sing
a Puccini aria,

look into the eyes
of your first dead love,

make love
for the final time,

climb Everest,
drink your last

glass of booze,
see your final dawn,

hold onto your final breath,
before your death.