Next of kin great deals are coming my way,
my inbox is overflowing with them,
a mass of brand new fresh and foreign promises
that I am related in secret bonds
to the cream of the carefully cropped.

They might be strangers for now,
but I will reach intimate terms with them
since my name locked in a will
that is locked inside of a safe
a clandestine lawyer says he wants to open

A finder’s fee is attached, of course,
even though I offer to crack
the secret world of the inheritance for free,
in honesty, I am just happy
that the dying have time to think of me at all.

Author Bio:

Ben Nardolilli is a theoretical MFA candidate at Long Island University. His work has appeared in Perigee Magazine, Door Is a Jar, The Delmarva Review, Red Fez, The Oklahoma Review, Quail Bell Magazine, and Slab. Follow his publishing journey at mirrorsponge.blogspot.com.