As I’m lying stiff in my bed,

Listening to the empty streets,

Absorbing the buzzing of tiny insects,

And analyzing the peaceful swishing of leaves

As they sway back and forth in the wind,

I inhale.

I close my eyes slowly as the memories from decades surround me.

How beautiful of a life I’ve lived.

I whisper to myself,

As a smile emerges from behind these cards of woe life has dealt me.

The cold chill of loneliness fades

And I smile.

If you had asked me back then,

When everything was a bit too much to understand,

What I wanted?

I would’ve said everything,

But now?

Now I would say I have what I need,

Peace.

In my last moments,

I was given peace.