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by Esther Cohen
WHEN A FRIEND DIES
When a good friend dies
you want to do
what the friend would want you to do
no one hopes their friends would
stand around grey wall to wall rugs
at Riverside Funeral Home whole place
looks like the an air freshener if an air freshener
were a building all those men in Halloween suits
Sandy Kadet AIDS so many years ago he said when I leave
please go to Takashima buy a dress to wear
not that I don’t like your clothing but you know
how much I love Takashima then go out to eat
somewhere without overhead lighting
take someone you like with you Japanese
my first choice he said though I
won’t be with you then.
Esther Cohen‘s books include God Is a Tree, Book Doctor, and Don’t Mind Me and Other Jewish Lies. She is the Jewish Currents arts and public events consultant.
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