Death, you never get it right!!

Sometimes, you come bursting in with no warning at all,

Unwelcome, unwanted, unexpected, rude, and demanding,

Thoughtless, uncaring, selfish, mindful only of your own purpose:

The ultimate unwanted visitor.

Other times, you stay away.

Respecting our need to pause, reflect, remember, and say goodbye,

You wait in the wings,

Bashful, quiet, shy, out of sight, and out of reach.

You wait until we're ready.

But then, you wait some more!!

You miss your entrance.

You miss your cue!!

"Surely, tonight you'll come," we say,

"Certainly by tomorrow."

"This waiting and watching-

This suffering can't possibly go on."

But it does.

Beyond hope, far beyond weariness, and well into deep exhaustion.

In fairness, once in a long, long while,

You do get it right.

You slip into a house late at night or in the still moments just before dawn.

You glide past the friendly clutter-the lace doilies on the armrests,

The pictures of long-ago weddings,

The crayoned drawings from grand- and even great-grandchildren.

Soft as a cat,

Easy as an old shoe,

You ease into the bedroom and steal away.

Death,

Do it that way

When you come for me.