By Devin Sams
it’s really nice
to sit near death
and not have to
say anything
to each other.
we’ve got an
understanding
that sucks water
up the roots.
death doesn’t like
my cooking.
I don’t like
the way
death smells.
death laughs
when I say,
“my back hurts”
and
I laugh
when death says,
“whatever happened to Beethoven?”
but tonight
we sit at the table
like corners
of a smile.
a muffled television
crawls through
the air ducts.
death gets up
for a piss
and there’s no need
to ask
where it’s going.
Devin Sams is the author of Climb Out Your Window And Run With It/Songs For The Doorknobs Who Missed Their Turn from Gob Pile Press (2021).