Poetry Challenge Day 16: The Last (blank)

The Last

I am not ready

    No, not ready

For the last

    Of anything

They say that heaven is the most wonderful place

But I don’t know how

    It can compare

To late night movies and popcorn

To listening to my children laugh 

Or a deep kiss from my wife 

    Before we enter our home

Will I have headphones in heaven

    To turn up that song

        So I can dance as I wash dishes

Will I have a desk

    pens and notebooks

    When the muse strikes me on fire

Can I feel the cold pierce my skin

Can I cry when my heart cracks 

    Little pieces in my hands

        Knowing time is not enough to put them back

I know that the day will come

That there will be a last time I brush my teeth

That there will be a last time I read a book

    A last time I breathe

but,

I am not ready

    No, not ready

For the last

    Of anything

            Here on earth

Poetry Challenge Day 15: Dream

 

I Dream of Better Days

I dream of better days

When a handshake can seal the deal

When I can eat a wild apple, the peel

Stuck in my teeth, juice on my chin

I dream of better days

When a hug will feel like Christmas

When I can choose to stand last

In a line, not feel like sin

I dream of better days

When the playground slide is free

When the masks fall to see

Smiles from strangers and kin

I dream of better days

When hearts’ desires are pursued

When a day lived is not a feud

Between regret and wanting to begin

I dream of better days...