Death's Limerick
by J. Marcus Weekley

              a response to Sanchez

Thank you for crying.
I am sure
I am so old
and you’re too young to remember me.

The rain gathering
on the ground is me,
the forest sucking his
brown breath is me,
and mud forgetting
Fall is me.
I’m too old
and you’re too young.

It doesn’t matter
where or why,
you misunderstand me.
You broke your body
under mine and awoke
remembering
everything.

Thank you for scowling
enchanter of the clothed life.
I am old
and you always learn of me.

J. Marcus Weekley was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, though he currently lives in Gulfport, Mississippi, and has lived in over seven states and three countries. He is also a photographer and a quilter, and his images accompany the essays of Gail Folkins in Texas Dance Halls: a Two-Step Circuit. Marcus' writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Poetry International, versal, The Iowa Review, and Quick Fiction, among others. His self-published books include from four years and Look Out Below and Other Tales, among others. View more of his work at www.flickr.com/photos/whynottryitagain2.

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