On This Island

He handled it with gloves
Dribbled water down, down.
I could count those drops backwards.
Hesitating, I swallowed the gray pill.
Never did know my life amounted to this much
The size of a raisin. I pull, and pull, and pull.
You will get smaller, carved down
To a pumpkin seed. Dried out
From flesh scooped away.
The gray dissolves in me.
You suck on it greedily.
I am the widow that killed her husband
This black veil won't stay on long.
The gray escapes me slowly
So slowly, an old limping man in disguise.
When he turns the corner, out of sight
He'll have taken you with him
And your hold on me.

by E. M. Soos