The Stillness Did Not Wait

after “I heard a Fly buzz – when I died –” by Emily Dickinson I heard the storm hush— when I woke— as if the sky had paused to see if I remembered how to breathe. The curtains did not stir, nor did the watcher at the door who’d come for me the day before and left empty-handed. No bluebottle broke the quiet this time. Just the echo of the page I never turned— still bright with endings I hadn’t written yet.