The Last Word by Jim Simmerman
I think I read this one in Thirteen Ways and I like it.
The Last Word
Jim Simmerman
You can have the bright
Face of the full moon
If I can have the dark
One it keeps out of sight.
You can have the circles
We chased ourselves in
If I can have the empty
Tunnels inside.
You can have the past
And the future to boot
If I can have the nick
Of time in between.
You can have the warmth
From the bridges we burned
If I can have the ashes
Drifting downstream.
You can have the music
That marshaled the waltz
If I can have the echo
That dies in the rafters.
You can have the last
Word, whatever it is,
If I can have
The silence thereafter.
