Certainty

There are more people alive now than have ever lived

I read that somewhere and instantly thought it impossible but if it were to be true

I wonder that, if we keep living this fast, no-one will have time to die

i've met people whose lovers died in war and i've wondered what this helplessness could be like

one minute there's a whole life entwined with yours and the next, just a space and scattered clues

When I watch old films in which animals appear

I get sad because those animals are certainly dead now

And that certainty prompts my private epitaph and I have to say it out loud

"That dog is dead, that cat is dead, that horse is dead..."