Death Came Knocking

Death came knocking
10 minutes shy of 11 last night
A soft nudge
That uneasy off feeling
Pushed me out of bed
Finger prick
Applied to stick: 33

Death came knocking
But I fought it off
With a tall apple juice box
Crackers
A cookie
A few potato chips
For good measure

Death came knocking
But I didn’t answer the door
I returned to my bed
To wait out that awful, dying feeling
To let the juice do its work
To let the cold sweat
Dry