we are the sacrilegious baptizing
saints, flinching away
from rosaries and counting
sidewalk cracks

i slept alone, your
wrists were my hair. delilah
mine, i still love you.

today the marsh
had a viking
funeral
              all the
trees and all
the brush floated
along in their
frozen beds of
ice
      the birds
sang in memoriam
and even from
behind the glass
we turned
                   our
heads away
                      i
wonder where you
are and whose
funeral you're
                          watching

i have
many flaws
this i
have always
known i
snap my
gum i
eat too
much my
accent is
far too
heavy for
this midwestern
town and
i stand
too close
to the
street while
waiting for
the light
to change

today i
waited in
the bus
lane and
didn't realize
until the
girl beside
me screamed
as the
bus sped
past inches
from my
face i

guess i
forgot that
not everyone
wants to
cease existing
so badly
they subconsciously
hope for
a bus
to flatten
them on
their commute

today the marsh
had a viking
funeral - all the
trees and all
the brush floated
along in their
frozen beds of
ice. so when
you say that
winter only brings
death, you're right -
but the ice
that kills is
the ice that
carries and i
promise when it
comes time for
your burial you
will drift out
proud, victorious, a
conqueror even of
eternity

               and i
with my warm
hands and aching
heart

           will follow
you to valhalla
and far beyond.

it has been [43] days since i missed a dose
of you
             strange to think
                                         that you have always choked
on me