OBITUARY

You might as well get used to it,

it happens to us all in the end,

which could come at any time.

So if you want to be prepared,

you should write your own ahead.

If you do, it could be your last chance

to set the record straight, to make

the claims you want to be yours;

in the absence of memory, what you say

can be taken as actual fact.

After ditching high school, he lied

about his age to enlist, then he learned

to drink, to beat his wife and kid,

to drive a truck and pave a road,

to shake his fist at the hand of God.

But in memoriam, he’ll graduate

with honors, serve his country,

raise a family, run an asphalt company,

and support a church of his choice.

It’s all the news that’s fit to print.