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
shannon p. laws 