A friend
I had a friend who was dying,
I watched him die,
I heard him die
I stood there
and with the greatest effort on the part of my empathy,
which had so far proved useless,
I changed places with him
the difference was smaller than I’d expected
he watched me die
he heard me die
he stood there
and said that it was better this way, fairer,
how should he put it,
he still had so much to do, so much of consequence
he thanked me for my empathy
and for the incredible effectiveness
of its timing
it happened one morning in a forest,
he’d gone for a jog there,
I was dying.