Never seen a man die, until today. I found him in the darkness, wondered what I had tripped over to reach down and find a groan. TMaybe the eyes adjusted, maybe an angel hovered overhead but as I held his head, his face rose from the gloom, a death mask in waiting.

“You’re going to be okay”, you say knowing mom never taught you to lie, “Stay with me”.

A stranger with no name held like a newborn by a clumsy father, you talk yet say nothing; become a failed god as life slips away and the light goes out.