Afterword
If this is where un- dies
She’ll do it properly.
Propriety never being her strong suit doesn’t matter.
She knows the song the chipmunks will sing.
The one they do for hawk and other sky-stalkers.
She’ll read a list of all the friends who never liked her.
And cry.
She’ll recount all the doings she never did from heart.
She’ll ask the frogs to respectfully change color.
And respectfully, she’ll ask that moss engorge with water.
And then, inspired,
She’ll piss herself.
Having always wanted to do that.
And the grass around her will immediately grow taller.
And all the love she gave away will find her.
And duplicate
Into earthworms. Her forefathers
Will prepare a grave for her—
Gravediggers upon gravediggers
Centuries of them
In a carnival of laughter
So glad they are
To welcome her.
In a fine mist of nitrogen,
That’s when
Porcupine will saunter
In garlic garlands
(Matching all the mourners)
And pierce her.
And this, despite everything,
Surprises her.
Despite
Her forefathers,
Shooting off their tails.
Despite her pride
In walking farther, and faster,
Despite the love
She thought she would take with her,
Despite everything
She is
Still afraid of dying
As she’s now doing.
She is?
As now she is—in piss
and earthworms.
is this hell?
no.
is this
no.
sensory deprivation?
I’m dead.
you are curing.
and who are you?
also curing.
as in
from a wound?
or like turkey
or jerky I mean
beef
curing
is drying out
together
in the master’s house
and we are bulbs of garlic.
What—
I died
was buried I
remember—
drying.
you lost your head
yes
but you no longer need it
he likes
us better when we’re bulbous
you know
full of resistance. This is the hopeless
cure, some call it the porous
cure, the story cure, we’re fond
of the body
cure, ongoing cure, he seems to like
the problem cure,
a seemingly enduring cure, not unlike
the dreaming cure,
we thought you’d like
the human cure, a special kind of
humor cure, amusing
cure until you find the power cure,
a separate and
a silent . . .
ever try the lying cure?
we know you like the crying cure, the quiet
cure, the sighing cure, we prefer
the croaking cure, the peepers cure,
the howlers and the prowlers
cure, the rhyming cure
is good,
the timing cure
is kind of like the lightning
cure, which reminds us of the
cosmic cure, the god—he’s not
is he?
God?
no—
we call him coach.
Oh
—you said this was the master’s house.
a name he uses for himself
mostly. the Master
cure
is the fastest cure
in a manner of speaking.
for him,
there is no hanging
in the—
attic?
dark.
no.
is this
no.
sensory deprivation?
I’m dead.
you are curing.
and who are you?
also curing.
as in
from a wound?
or like turkey
or jerky I mean
beef
curing
is drying out
together
in the master’s house
and we are bulbs of garlic.
What—
I died
was buried I
remember—
drying.
you lost your head
yes
but you no longer need it
he likes
us better when we’re bulbous
you know
full of resistance. This is the hopeless
cure, some call it the porous
cure, the story cure, we’re fond
of the body
cure, ongoing cure, he seems to like
the problem cure,
a seemingly enduring cure, not unlike
the dreaming cure,
we thought you’d like
the human cure, a special kind of
humor cure, amusing
cure until you find the power cure,
a separate and
a silent . . .
ever try the lying cure?
we know you like the crying cure, the quiet
cure, the sighing cure, we prefer
the croaking cure, the peepers cure,
the howlers and the prowlers
cure, the rhyming cure
is good,
the timing cure
is kind of like the lightning
cure, which reminds us of the
cosmic cure, the god—he’s not
is he?
God?
no—
we call him coach.
Oh
—you said this was the master’s house.
a name he uses for himself
mostly. the Master
cure
is the fastest cure
in a manner of speaking.
for him,
there is no hanging
in the—
attic?
dark.