I’ve spoken English my whole life
and now I’m learning Death.
It’s a difficult language
with only one pronoun,
first-person singular.
When you overhear native speakers
they’re muttering, “I never… I didn’t…
I wasn’t… I should have…” and so forth.
Notice it’s all past tense.
No present tense, nor future.
But the language has accomplished poets.
They turn out dirges, laments, elegies…
Plus you hear a lot of keening,
and at annual festivals
thousands get together and regret.
- © Robert Kinerk 2023
Robert Kinerk began writing in the fourth grade. His output includes stories, novels, novellas, poems, and dramatic works including straight plays for adults and musical plays for both adults and children. He most recently published 'Tales from the Territory: Stories of Southeast Alaska.' Check him out at robertkinerk.com. He and his wife Anne live in Cambridge MA.
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