“The End”

  

c. 2026 Rod Ice

All rights reserved

(8-26)

 

The end 

I see it when peering down my leg

Trousers pulled up from the ankle

This is where others in the bloodline

Were caused to tread

None of them going gladly into that abyss

That chasm of affliction

Into which I have now descended

I had hoped to be spared

By some work of chance

Perhaps a gift of grace, undeserved

But now I am at the precipice

Swollen feel standing flat

Toes gripping the edge

As I look down

Down, down, down

Into the void below, which beckons

Offering a Siren call

One I would like to resist by choice

But hear despite my own plea

To be deaf