he went to sleep
with a hangover
wishing so terribly
to not survive
then woke up
the next day
quite drunk
on sloshed emotion
the more he drank
the more sober he got
until the knife went in
that sobered him right up
clean and even,
like slicing into
wood with the grain
sawdust in the air

when a man dies,
when you stab him
when that knife goes in
between the ribs into the lung?
it sounds like a fish
flapping, jumping,
and let me assure you
nothing can make it stop
these are the sounds of death
drowning in blood,
the hum of the blade
they stay with you