Contributor: jacob erin-cilberto

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i'll surmise the last night
staying at the inn of borrowed time
when tomorrow will refuse to come
there will be no wake-up call
when my poet's life has taken its last sleeping pill
trudged through its last painful dream

drunk its last bouquet of words
the flowers showing telltale signs of cliched meaning
the time for one last heroic poem
even as the defecated words no longer assuage
the apocalyptic feelings

the ancient syllables of sifting sand
that no longer sift
an hour glass heart with less left than spent
you'll see my signature on the page
directly under my conclusion

even if the lines don't make much sense
you'll spy my last effort
and know all the good intent
of the weakening content

was for you.


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jacob erin-cilberto has been writing and publishing poetry since 1970. He lives and teaches in Southern Illinoiis and has reviewed books by B.Z. Niditch, Lance Lee, Michael Miller and others for Birchbrook Press and Water Forest Press.