A Reminder

As though I needed it:
Another reminder of mortality.

There are plenty every day
And more today than usual.

The death of a friend.
The too-much-coffee shaking
The flat-footed-post-middle-age slogging
I euphemistically call running
The breaking of a special dish
Preserved from an ancient home
A dish filled with memories,
Now lost.
Then the simple cut of my razor
Against jaw line.

Was it the coffee
That unsteadied my hand?
The running?
The hurry of getting ready
For the funeral of the friend,
That brought forth this bright red dot
Of precious blood.
Shed for no one.
Just there. A reminder. One drop.