ryan quinn flanagan | a good one

A Good One

Reading the obituaries
in bed
on a rainy Tuesday evening
I come across a
good one:


Rosales Patricia, 58,
died peacefully in her sleep
surrounded by friends
and family
after a long courageous battle
with cancer.


Nothing new there.


Everyone dies
peacefully in their sleep
surrounded by friends
and family.


They always lie
about the manner of death
to spare the living.
It is nice to think of dying
in your sleep
surrounded by friends
and family,
instead of the other.
The truth of it.
The loss of bowels
and the morphine drip
in the dark
alone
while the children fight
over the inheritance
through lawyers.


Anyhow,
this one was different
because of the way it ended.
In lieu of flowers,
please send money,

the obituary
read.


That’s a first,
I thought
sitting up in bed
laughing.


I didn’t know you could ask for money
in the obituaries.


Then I flipped to sports
and noticed that the Dodgers
had gone bankrupt.


I guess
they’ll be asking for money
as well.

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