For Cathal

she slipped away
past the cat watching the night
down the old wood stairs
and gone

leaving the fragile things
husbands and children
who didn't wait for her
before they died

how could she trust
a world where people
fell away faster than
the ash on her cigarette

never good at doing
what she was told –
danced on sidewalk grates
no matter what
her sister said

never good at doing
what she was told –
she wouldn't stay
any longer

she had been
the fixed point
in so many lives
for so long
and gravity had taken its toll