We Laugh

We laugh at Death,
We who are young
and vibrant. We laugh as
we laugh at a dog
who growls
and
barks
loudly.

We do not heed the bark.
We laugh,
and stare it in the face.
And we tell ourselves His bark
is worse than his bite.
We tell ourselves this

Until he bites.

wait

a Lantern upturned
at my door glaring in
earnestly, She
presses nose on
glass making faces
a yearning bright
smoulders for all to see
But I--
I turn away certain
She is still there
always be there,
a smoke rising.

You see
for Her
it was never a question
of 'if'
only 'when'.