04-26-2017, 05:49 PM
Jinni
The Jinni asks: how do you want to die?
It's the gift of choice, of knowledge,
release from the building suspense.
Do you want to die quick like a flash
of dynamite, an asteroid impact?
Do you want your body to remain
intact, maybe heart attack or gas?
Do you want the fame you didn't have
in life, a breathtaking death,
one for the record books
and a million re-tweets?
Do you want your death to dress
your story in white,
bookends of goodness, covering
your life like a sheet?
Maybe you'd like to save
a Hybrid full of disabled babies
from a Humvee full of pedophiles
with twisted, pointed mustaches
and center-parted, bowl-cut hair
slicked with trans-fatty fry grease.
The Jinni is an ifrit –
it can make things happen.
Some people choose to simply
fall asleep;
they take a breath,
then exhale.
Most fall into silence, hoping
that the Jinni is the one who decides
whether dying must always result in death.
The Jinni asks: how do you want to die?
It's the gift of choice, of knowledge,
release from the building suspense.
Do you want to die quick like a flash
of dynamite, an asteroid impact?
Do you want your body to remain
intact, maybe heart attack or gas?
Do you want the fame you didn't have
in life, a breathtaking death,
one for the record books
and a million re-tweets?
Do you want your death to dress
your story in white,
bookends of goodness, covering
your life like a sheet?
Maybe you'd like to save
a Hybrid full of disabled babies
from a Humvee full of pedophiles
with twisted, pointed mustaches
and center-parted, bowl-cut hair
slicked with trans-fatty fry grease.
The Jinni is an ifrit –
it can make things happen.
Some people choose to simply
fall asleep;
they take a breath,
then exhale.
Most fall into silence, hoping
that the Jinni is the one who decides
whether dying must always result in death.