It is not quite what I planned,

this galling pancreatic cancer,

but I have come to understand

that I must be a dervish-dancer

who spins to an internal beat,

faster, with no hesitation,

and without the former need

for quiet and for contemplation.

I am past the languid days,

pajama mornings, coffee hour;

this is how the ending plays

'fore death finds me in the Looming Tower

and so I cross this flaming land

at full speed, to play the man.