I might be the
only person
you know
who’s bought 2 refrigerators
in one month
And the reason why
is less interesting
than the fact I sprung for
a sleek, European
monolithic design
Because I’m basically
just a monkey
in the opening scenes of
2001 Space Odyssey
worshipping form over function
I’m probably the only
person you know
who’s paid for 2 human
cremations in one month
Husband, then Aunt
four weeks apart
bare bones, no casket, no urn
the one in Sequim cost three thousand dollars
the one in Yuma half that
Which says something about the socioeconomic
advantage of the Pacific NW
versus the poverty of the US-Mexico border
or maybe it’s about supply and demand
more options down south
to process our dead? More people dying?
Listen: when I die
haul my carcass
out to the desert
to rot next to the ocotillo
A slow terrestrial decompose is
second only to a
sky burial of the ancient Persian
in the Tower of Silence
which is not even available to me
For one, it’s outlawed by the shah
for two, carrion birds are on the decline
and for three, as a non-believer
I don’t merit Zoroastrian rites
But the bleached, sun-scorched picked-clean
possibility of my skin
in flight
in the beaks of dozens of vultures
is an image
difficult to reconcile
and even more difficult to resist
While I’m eager for my remains to eventually
face a natural spoilage
I’m willing to pay handsomely
so my coffee creamer does not
