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If I Am to Die

If I am to die,
Let it not be among strangers,
A beggar to their kindness,
A lash upon their hearts.

If I am to die,
Let it not be in our household,
A haunting in your comfort,
A spirit in your bed.

If I am to die,
Bear me forth upon a pallet.
Let pines be my cathedral.
Let birdsong be my choir.

If I am to die,
Let my breath ascend to heaven,
While the ash which is my form
Is washed away by rain.

Dedicated to Carmen Fong, MD

I wrote this while with fever, contemplating my death from Covid-19. March 2020.