<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Erosion<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><p class="">In my youth<br class="">I regarded death as a<br class="">Time clock<br class="">Punch in on February 8, 1941, at 3:52PM<br class="">Punch out on February 8, 2041, at 3:52PM.</p><p class="">Tidy.</p><p class="">Now<br class="">I view death as<br class="">erosion.</p><p class="">Amorphic.</p><p class="">I built my house<br class="">on a bluff<br class="">overlooking the ocean.<br class="">Buffeted by nature:<br class="">sun<br class="">wind<br class="">rain<br class="">waves.</p><p class="">Lost to erosion:<br class="">First the ice plant<br class="">Then the manzanita<br class="">Next the ceanothus<br class="">And the geraniums<br class="">My favorite Monterey cypress<br class="">A corner of the redwood deck<br class="">The guest bedroom...</p><p class="">How much longer can I stay in my house?<br class="">How much longer will I be myself?</p><p class="">"<em class="">Why don't you move</em>?"<br class="">I love the view.</p><div class=""><br class=""></div></div><div class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- Bob Burnett</div></body></html>