he died in venice (rewrite)

he died in venice

the obituary said
an overdose at the age of 40

he died in venice

and all the critics said
he had written some imaginative poetry

they could not have been speaking of these images

a smooth muscled body
hair dyed blond
unconscious in the shower

the ripped pages of a cum stained copy of Thomas Mann's Death in Venice

a cold hand clutching his final words
trying to thrust them far from his dying body

maybe hoping

that his final scratches would not be obliterated by the blood

he died in venice

in some city he grew up
fought with friends and parents
in some city or another
he made love and had sex with men and women
he took classes and jobs of little or no interest
in one place or another
he read books and wrote poetry

but he died in venice

he put all his notes in the corner
and his lover in the shower
but he couldn't keep the blood from staining the covers
and drying on the erection of his undressed body