To Die Like Marat

The death of Marat was
bad, but at least he looked
good.

I don’t want to go out a slob,
nothing against slobs.

I want to die handsome, like
Marat, or at least the way Jacques-
Louis David saw him

with a letter in his hand and the sun
light casting a golden shadow

on his shoulders, forehead, and left forearm.
Stabbed to death by a strange friend with false
credentials and a reason to come in.

George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included in such publications as the Hazmat ReviewMoria Poetry JournalChronogram JournalAmpersand Literary ReviewThe Angle at St. John Fisher College, and 3:16 Journal. George’s blogs, essays and letters have appeared in USA TodayThe Wall Street JournalThe AtlanticHavana TimesSouth China Morning PostThe Buffalo News, and more. 

See all his poems on Tea House here.

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