There are memorable ones
like Marie Antoinette saying,
“Pardonnez-moi monsieur,”
after stepping on her executioner’s foot

and there’s Groucho saying
as he died, “This is no way to live,”
and Steve Jobs going,
“Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow.”

But if you don’t happen to be famous,
when your time comes
you can say words that feel right
and then take a seat
in the theater of your mind

to watch the nature film
in which you are the gazelle,
with the soft paws of a lion
kicking up sand behind you.

You do your best,
but It doesn’t take long
for the warm breath on your neck
to persuade you to turn
toward the yellow eyes,
the flattened ears,

the sleek, muscled body,
as you go down in awe
of nature’s superb recycling machine
without needing to say
any words at all.