the imminence of death

the imminence
of death
finds me hungry
for life,
heart-bursting LIFE!
where a moment
of joy's
brilliant uprising
wipes me away;
where the glance
of a stranger
penetrates
walls and shells
of self,
piercing heart tender;
where the norms
and storms
of habitual living
are shattered
by Mystery's emergence;
the imminence
of death
is the edge
where brilliant clarity
meets
impassioned heart-felt
reality;
the pulse
giving birth
through earth
into body and flesh,
emerging
and
returning....