I dreamed you were dead last night.
Not fantasized – dreamed.
I didn’t even realize it wasn’t real until
I saw your note
telling me to donate to whatever cause
you currently care about.

I hadn’t heard from you in months
which I’d gotten used to
– though didn’t enjoy –
and this is how you opted
to reinitiate?
Some rote note about
orphaned squirrels
where I’m included
amongst your adoring masses?
It seems sort of like
I’ve been dead to you, too.

I don’t know
what inspired me
to imagine you in dream
but it made me recognize
how whether you or I
are ghosts to one other
doesn’t matter so much
if we didn’t even notice the passing.

May the two of us
rest in pieces.