Unseen Nest

Lives at a distance are so easily shed,
It’s hard to believe that your own
Is such a big, damn deal in your head.

How many deaths did you read about,
Hear about, see faked, fake yourself
As a kid? All that pretending you did.

How many ordinary, decline and fall
And wind-up-in-the-hospital deaths
Have been slowly taking down your kin?

How many times has someone local
Had their loss of everything by accident
Or random violence shown on the news?

How many roadside memorials?
How many old this-or-that war statues?
How many cemeteries on your commutes?

And yet, you’d think death was important
From the way you talk about it, think
It was the most major event. There it went.