THE AFTERLIFE
I’ve been dead for years, so this place suits me.
Sixty thousand channels thanks to cable.
Love the game room and those herbal teas.
Everyone remembers Betty Grable.
Sixty thousand channels thanks to cable.
Sleep’s not a problem, we’re all deceased.
Everyone remembers Betty Grable.
Marilyn Monroe keeps asking for a priest.
Sleep’s not a problem, we’re all deceased
tucked in among a thousand souvenirs.
Marilyn Monroe keeps asking for a priest.
Frank Sinatra hums the music of the spheres.
Tucked in among a thousand souvenirs,
there’s room for clippings and my Betamax.
Frank Sinatra hums the music of the spheres.
Every afternoon I wax my Cadillacs.
There’s room for clippings and my Betamax.
The past is present like a golden key.
Every afternoon I wax my Cadillacs.
I’ve been dead for years, so this place suits me.
—from Rattle #86, Winter 2024
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Ron Koertge: “A while ago I read at a retirement center with some friends. Afterwards, someone mentioned the Faulkner quote: ‘The past is never dead. It’s not even past.’ I wasn’t surprised when I got home, sat down and wrote the first draft of ‘The Afterlife.’”
