It’s Monday and a great day for art and poetry! Every Monday night is Poetry Night open mic in downtown Bellingham. Last week Robert gave out a prompt that I couldn’t resist: What should be done with your body upon your death. All week I’ve been thinking about this. What writer doesn’t enjoy writing or thinking about death- the last great unknown. After all it’s the ending of the story that has the most power to the reader. Perhaps writers would like to think they have some control over HOW they die, as they may with their characters? I wrestled with all sort of ideas and came up with this:
Perhaps
Where my body lies
Perhaps some purple crocus
Will mark my grave
Only exposing the location
Once a year in early March.
Bud-green stalks
Protruding out about
A slushy snow
Where my body lies
Perhaps a coyote
Will come by for brunch
Munch on my decayed muscle,
Cracking the bone
For it’s sweet marrow.
That night when it howls
Nose pointed upward
My soul will follow suit,
Floating towards the moon
Where my body lies
Perhaps a condor
Will pick my bones clean
On a warm canyon floor,
Saving the smaller pieces
For its nesting babes.
Larger chunks, to big to carry
dark and red, sun themselves
As they recline against
speckled stones
Wherever I land
Perhaps even in a coffin,
Tombstone to mark it or not,
I hope an impression
That a body lays beneath
Would be noticed
Would be heard
Would be stirred
Back into the world
To which I was born
Published by Shannon Laws
Shannon Laws is an award-winning poet, performer, and advocate for the arts. She has been recognized with two Mayor’s Arts Awards and the Dr. Asha Bhargava Memorial Award — Community Champion. Her work has been featured in numerous journals and anthologies, and she has captivated audiences at esteemed literary events, including the Jack McCarthy Evergreen Invitational Slam, SpeakEasy, Poetry Night, Kitchen Sessions, and the West Coast Tagore Festival.
Beyond her writing and performances, Shannon actively fosters literary
and artistic communities. Since 2022, she has curated Corridor, a monthly
“found-art” zine project that showcases the work of more than 50 contributing
poets and artists. She is also the founder and host of Poetry Club, an engaging
discussion group established in 2015.
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