Paul is old enough
that every Wednesday
he practices
being a mourner.
He finds strangers’ funerals
for his practice sessions
and makes up connections
if anyone asks.
Paul’s friends
are few enough in number
that no year could lose
more than one.
He finds loving
the unknown deceased
both fiction
and odd comfort.
Paul employs this fiction
with the live people he meets
in hopes he will make
a few more friends.
copyright © 2020 Kenneth P. Gurney
Umflop 