How do you begin to explain the bird corpses
just inside the open yawn of the cave?
Old versions of us couldn’t do it,
huddled and hushed
each day a new fallen bundle of feathers collapsed
as if there really was a veil
between here and the place no one gets a return visit from.
I ended that sentence with a preposition,
and, to some, it feels like a small body on their pillow,
a gift from a feline friend, a different vibe completely.
Can you imagine the stretch in space
standing at the mouth, a gasp, unintended,
as, just for a moment, it felt like something tugged
on the front of your shirt and you moved
a fraction closer to Pluto?
A wonder. And no wonder the canny priests
proved their holy ways by finding the right pockets
of air.
See? Hades has blessed me. Follow
my lead. Pay me. Feed me. Love me.
Let me rest my foot upon the neck
of your fear.
Some people also are such caverns.
Melcontents 