I had forgotten the slow ways of death,
interminable days of quiet uncertainty,
punctuated by necessary offices and awkward
visits. Years ago, a great aunt’s
always darkened house, wood stove
over-heated, smell of Vicks and perfume,
constant breathing of machines, drone
of white gospel the only other sound,
as if we all wanted to slow things down,
keep them as they were, let nothing go,
and even the slightest unnecessary noise
might startle time awake.
Now, it all comes back again.

Scott Owens is the 2008 Visiting Writer at Catawba Valley Community College. His first full-length collection of poetry, The Fractured World, was published by Main Street Rag. He is also author of three chapbooks: The Persistence of Faith, Deceptively Like a Sound, and The Book of Days.