Photographs and Poems


These mountains have stopped
swallowing men & spitting
them back out
 

bruised by what
they’ve seen & done.
The men are gone
 

litany of used
-to-be.
 

I believe
in the body, not its resurrection.
 

while I want to die

quickly, I want my body to linger as long as it can.
 

Make certain it’s safe enough, deep enough,
square enough to hold my eternity.
 

People are real friendly, but they’ll leave you alone, you know?
 

There is no way you can bury me
without entering the earth yourself.
Notes:

Photographs are by Matt Eich, and poem excerpts are by Doug Van Gundy. This series is accompanied by Alissa Quart’s essay “True Poetry.”

Source: Poetry (December 2019)