Dream Song #17
They took my body to the forest
They asked me to climb a ladder
I did not want to climb a ladder
But they forced me to climb the ladder
If you don’t climb the ladder
we will bury you in the foamy mud
I had to decide: should I die
by hanging or by burial
I climbed the ladder and they wrapped
a belt around the thick limb of a tree
And then when I could no longer breathe
they tossed me into a stream
And I floated to the edge of the village
where someone prayed for my soul
It’s like this in a lullaby
for the end of the world:
The options for the end
are endless
But this is not really a lullaby
for the end of the world
It’s about the beginning
what happens when we start to rot
in the daylight
The way the light shines on
the ants and worms and parasites
mauling our bodies
It’s about the swarms of dogs
gnawing our skin and bones
Do you know what it’s like
when a ghost licks your intestines
Do you know what it’s like
when a rat devours your brain
To avoid the hole
the children must sing sweetly, softly
To avoid the hole
they must fill their songs with love
Source: Poetry (May 2014)