the smiley face

i remember when my friend in seattle
texted me
a photo
of nine ambien pills
aligned in a smiley face
beside a bottle
of rum.
good bye she wrote.

this time i'm really done.
but she wasn't of course.
she was never quite
done
with drama.
there was always another
page to turn,
a cliff hanger
of sorts.

even in death, it
continued when her husband
called her friends
and lovers,
to keep
it going, trying to unravel
her secret life, both
tragic,
and fun, but finally, at
last,
after so many threats
and attempts,
it was finally done.