Now is the Time. Again.

If I could come back – resurrect, awaken, ring the bell
attached to my toe, peel back the oils and wraps,
look about my room of gold, silver, amethyst,
and attendants – I would tell you. Tell you it moves
swift like the Nile and without borders.
It doesn’t care if you are a handmaid or king,
it comes to kill. All the perfumes and pageantry
can’t erase the fever, the sores, the coughing.
And it comes on the talons of the Phoenix
time after time. And now is the time. Again.