“I only desire to find out knowledge . . . which may instruct me how to die well and how to live well.”
—Michel de Montaigne
“Life Skills”—the mindless high-school class that knocks
Into our callow heads the way to do
The forms we face whenever something new
Requires our consent: a job, some stocks,
Our wedding vows, the keys to office locks,
Insurance claims, a condo with a view.
Just check right here and sign right there—you’re through.
Hearse drivers see who’s learned to fill a box.
New forms will school survivors when we die:
Interment forms and probate forms and more.
Few experts in death’s forms will hear the cry
Rabboni! echoing through a tomb’s wide door:
The voice of Mary, stunned to see the face
Of One no scribe could ever hold in place.
—Bryce Christensen
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
A Gracious and Modest Punch to the Gut
For Instanceby rhina p. espaillatwiseblood books, 126 pages, $18 Dominican-American poet and translator Rhina Espaillat, at ninety-four,…
Art Criticism for Art’s Sake (ft. Michael Clune)
In the latest installment of the ongoing interview series with contributing editor Mark Bauerlein, Michael Clune joins…
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place with Wifi
As waiters glide across the room,espresso steams beside my bookon the small, round table.The low purl of…
