![\"Instructions_](\"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/poemeveryday\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Instructions_-On-Getting-Ready-to-Die.jpg\")
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Instructions: On Getting Ready to Die <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n by Gayle Kellner<\/p>\n Please take off my watch Followed by my earrings Slip off my shoes Set my glasses for reading on the piles of books I\u2019ll never get to Wrap me in a sweater Unbutton my collar Take off my belt Why did I wait so long?<\/p>\n ###<\/p>\n Gayle Kellner is a writer, an artist, a poet,\u00a0and an educator. Her essays and poems have appeared in\u00a0Utne Magazine, Orion Magazine,\u00a0\u00a0The Loop, The Beachcomber, and \u00a0The Nature of an Island.<\/em>\u00a0She is currently a regular guest on Voice of Vashon’s community radio program\u00a0The Brown Briefly<\/em>\u00a0hosted by retired reporter and editor of\u00a0Time Magazine<\/em>\u00a0Brian Brown. Gayle also works as a professional artist. Her paintings have been shown on Vashon Island at the\u00a0Blue Heron Center for the Arts\u00a0<\/em>and the\u00a0Barnworks<\/em>.\u00a0 Her work in stone has been shown at the\u00a0International Museum of the Horse<\/em>\u00a0in Lexington Kentucky.<\/p>\n Gayle currently lives on Vashon Island where she is pursuing her continued interests in writing and art. She spends her days now rising with the sun; to write, read poetry and history,\u00a0tend her chickens and her garden, paint in her boathouse studio,\u00a0and walk the shores and woodlands that surround her island home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Instructions: On Getting Ready to Die by Gayle Kellner Please take off my watch I won\u2019t need time beyond the moment any longer Followed by my earrings There will be no one\u2019s eye to catch, No partner to impress Slip off my shoes Let me put my bare feet in the grass One last time…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3574,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[428,53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspirational-poems","category-poem"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/poemeveryday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/poemeveryday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/poemeveryday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/poemeveryday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/poemeveryday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/poemeveryday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/poemeveryday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/poemeveryday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/poemeveryday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.everywritersresource.com\/poemeveryday\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nI won\u2019t need time beyond the moment any longer<\/p>\n
\nThere will be no one\u2019s eye to catch,
\nNo partner to impress<\/p>\n
\nLet me put my bare feet in the grass
\nOne last time<\/p>\n
\nBut stack my favorites near me
\nFor they are among my closest friends<\/p>\n
\nIn remembrance of those perfect chilly fall days
\nAnd take me outside
\nLet me feel the morning sun on my face<\/p>\n
\nLoosen my cuffs
\nThat damn bra
\nI\u2019ll need help with the clasp behind my back<\/p>\n
\nLay all of these instruments of restraint aside
\nI will be restrained no longer<\/p>\n