Words & Pictures & Sounds

If I must be buried, please don't put me in a "good" outfit
I cannot think of anything more dating
can you imagine??

No, the naked body is always stylish

Please, bury me barefoot beneath a meadow, so that wildflowers may grow on my grave
field mice may harvest the fruits of my labour
worms may pull through my decay
And you shall not think of me as anything
but a naked wild thing

free, plentiful
sexy, biodegradable

Along the hypotenuse of the hippopotamus’ nose is a very strange place to be
Not least because of the bulging bogies that flow when the blubbering beast does sneeze

Perpendicular to the pelican with the wind to the west of him is a very poor place to be
Not least because of the smell he can make come out of him at about 180°

Tessellating yourself on the tracks of a tiger is a very troubling place to be
Not least because of the tears on your cheeks as she opens her mouth full of teeth

I Sat On Swanage Cliffs Eating Lovely Egg Sandwiches (Isosceles): the very best place to be
Not least because with my hand in yours, it was just you and me and the sea

“Well, think about a fried egg” they say (I say)
“No, better yet, think about an egg while it’s frying (dying!)
Think about how what’s translucent turns white (fright!)
Think about how it’s not yet one not yet the other
But changing
Think about the first time you saw the headlines (can you even remember?)
Great Barrier Reef, carbon capture, polar bears, such high-profit rapture
Think about when the news was broken (over text)
When you picked up the call, when you missed the first step
That sudden fall, not hitting the ground (not just yet)”
Then, I guess, when you ask me how can the end be in the middle of the beginning,
I would say, “What do you think is going to happen next?”
And, “Oh,” you say
And, “Ah,” I say
And we all wait for our next breath.

I was five years old when we went to the zoo
We sat on the grass and I looked at you
Familiar of course, but somehow all new
And just like the animals, you were beautiful too.