learning about his death
in an email I remembered how
I didn’t like him much when 
he was alive and wondered

why I cared that he had died
alone in his bed with a 
virus that I was now, just 
coincidentally, suffering from

Except I did all the vaccinations
followed all, well honestly most, 
of the protocols and imagined
he probably hadn’t because

he was that type of stubborn man,
always right, angry at his weaknesses,
never gave himself a break.

I don’t want to, but find myself
liking him better now, or at 
least not judging so much
about his stubbornness

dying in bed alone 
shouldn’t happen to anyone,
unless that’s what they want,
even then someone should be

waiting outside the door, just in case,
maybe he was angry because no one
was waiting for him 
until he went through that final door.



©2023marthahurwitz