Graduation day precedes final report card pick-up. The “Last Dance” at Senior Prom precedes some final melody. A roll of thunder follows a lightening strike–before the last flash of the storm. A parry during a fencing match lands before the ultimate riposte.

How these penultimates eclipse the end!

dogs, fish, lizards, mice …

that heartbreaking

order of pets

still the sun rises

the next morning