Big Death Small Death Great Death Good Death

Big Death Small Death
      Great Death Good Death

Good Death is upredictable
Maybe enhanced by conditions though
Small death is small quarry
Pursued by hopes and fears
Big death is expensive and long
A lavish production
With tubes and wires galore
Great death happens now
Beyond cause and condition
A free fall where
Two feet get planted on the ground.

Good death is not good enough
For the history books
Great death is only mentioned in passing
Without corroboration
Small death produces gamey relics,
Beaten breasts, dropped kerchiefs
Long lines of limousines,
Running rivers of mascara,
Unlifted veils,
Monuments with graven images, bequests
And eponymous hospital wings

Big death is a spectre
Sugar daddy of frail morality
A rich man's personal trainer,
The poor man's aspiration,
An ugly beast with horns
Snorting face darkly staring
Through an abandoned window.