Vigilance

Written By Robert Okaji

Pressing the button, I recline. Which is not

to say in comfort or with grace. The cushion

pokes my left hip (the good one) as I look through

the slats, trying to catch Death in his stealth mode.

No luck this evening. Stephanie hopes not

to find me blue and cold and unmoving one 

morning. I like to think that I’d fire warning

flares to avert the scene, hence my vigilance. 

And optimism. Will I know when Death stops

for me? Will I wave him off or open wide?

Which protocol to rehearse? Which ritual?

Robert Okaji served without distinction in the U.S. Navy and once owned a bookstore. Sixteen months ago, he was diagnosed with late stage metastatic lung cancer. Thanks to the wonders of modern science, he still lives in Indiana with his wife—poet Stephanie L. Harper—stepson, and cat. His first full-length collection, Our Loveliest Bruises, will be published by 3: A Taos Press in fall 2024, and his poetry may be found in Only Poems, Big Windows Review, Verse Daily, Broadkill Review, Vox Populi, Taos Poetry Journal, wildness, and at his blog, O at the Edges, at www.robertokaji.com.

Robert Okaji

Robert Okaji served without distinction in the U.S. Navy and once owned a bookstore. Sixteen months ago, he was diagnosed with late stage metastatic lung cancer. Thanks to the wonders of modern science, he still lives in Indiana with his wife—poet Stephanie L. Harper—stepson, and cat. His first full-length collection, Our Loveliest Bruises, will be published by 3: A Taos Press in fall 2024, and his poetry may be found in Only Poems, Big Windows Review, Verse Daily, Broadkill Review, Vox Populi, Taos Poetry Journal, wildness, and at his blog, O at the Edges, at www.robertokaji.com.

https://robertokaji.com/
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