052523

Double Jeopardy


I willed my bones to an old friend; alas,
He died a week before I did the same.
You'd not believe the way my wastrel son
Has treated me; my skeleton, restored,
Adorns the “party room” that's in his pad,
And I, a revenant, look on, repulsed,
Debauchery of every kind all night,
I watch; I try, but cannot interfere.

And then, one night, he takes too many pills
O'erwhelmed, his system fails, he breathes his last—
The other boys and girls pell mell depart.
His spirit struggles from his flaccid frame,
Can shade kill shade? My hands upon his throat,
We'll soon find out, my no-good son and I.