I want to live one day longer than Dad,
she said, so I can take care of him.

When he died, she apportioned their treasures
among us. Don’t weep for me, she said,
I’m ready to go.

Her heart believed her, clenching repeatedly.
I was hoping that was the one,
she sighed, after each seizure.

But when her grandmother’s candlesticks
appeared prematurely in the house
of the designated heir,
she was not pleased.

And when a scientific study related
the consumption of coffee
to diseases of the heart,
I think I’ll drink tea from now on, she said.