A writer I knew
fell and died
just like that
he would have hated this ending
all of its tragic shock
not at all in keeping
with the rest
even cancer
would have been better
he would have made us laugh
as he said goodbye
I would have liked to show him this poem
he would have been touched, I think
that I wrote about him
and then he would have asked me
in his crinkly voice
what does it all mean for you
which I try to answer
but the silence
on the other side
is too much to bear.