Fredric Koeppel’s most recent publications were poems in The Iowa Review and Many Mountains Moving. He is a freelance journalist specializing in arts and culture. he lives in Memphis and writes the wine review blog BiggerThanYourHead.

The Day and the Hour
By Fredric Koeppel

Someone comes to tell you the day and the hour
of your death. He sits in a chair and brushes
the dust of the road from his hat. You get him
a glass of cold water from the kitchen; he closes
his eyes as he drinks, slowly, beholden. He leans

forward and whispers a few words into your ear
and then turns toward the door. He stands on
the porch, looking out at the distance. Clouds
fill the hills with purple scrim, and he wonders
which will find him first, the rain or the fall of night.