Dead Chances

A virus or a cancer
smiles for the wealthy
Years it gladly waits
Maternal ashes
Love’s ambition also lost
Only wishing she were healthy
Unanswered questions
Out the window tossed.

T.P. Wilkinson, Dr. rer. pol. writes, teaches History and English, directs theatre and coaches cricket between the cradles of Heine and Saramago. He is author of Unbecoming American: A War Memoir and also Church Clothes, Land, Mission and the End of Apartheid in South Africa. Read other articles by T.P..