Fouteen Followers

Close the referral;
this one’s sand fell through the glass
before we could raise
a scalpel, or insert a camera
into the body’s abyss.

But perhaps while he slept
the mind whispered to the bowel
‘beware of incoming’
and between them they reckoned
the weight of the loss
versus the death of dignity;

and knowing that he
who rode the saddle
lacked the courage to slash
his own brakes and freewheel
into the future

decided as a common courtesy
to gently deflate his tyres,
perspire the soft steam of breath
back to cool air.

And as a final boon
tug the draw-strings at the corners
of his lips, so that those
who stumble over his remains
might honestly report
he died with a smile on his face.