Thirty poems in thirty days, hope you’ve enjoyed my work this National Poetry Month.

For today’s prompt, write a closing time poem. Or another way of coming at this prompt is to write a poem in which something is coming to an end–like this month’s poetry challenge. Could be the end of a concert, an era, or whatever else must come to a close.

Photograph: HANDOUT/AFP/Getty Image

Last Slice of Life
for David Goodall

When there’s less than a glass
of wine left in the bottle
I finish it before it turns to vinegar
even if it was delicious.

Especially if it was delicious.
I don’t leave the last slice
of pizza to molder in my fridge
nor the last piece of pie.

Life can be just as fleeting.
Why cling to the last days
like a car that spends more time
in the shop than on the road?

If I decide someday
I’ve lived too long,
don’t cite archaic laws
of God or man.

The only thing I truly own is my body.
Let me go in peace.