Mark Jarman Zen How do you write a verse apart
From terror and its toxic art
That fills the air with all you dread?
Write as if you were already dead.How do you pray for those you love
To powers which, aloof above,
Are unlikely to hear what you've said?
Pray as if you were already dead.How do you live when life itself
Is like a blindfolded medicine shelf
Where what you take may knock you dead?
Live as if you were already dead.