1 post / 0 new
387th Weekly Poetry Contest winner: The Dead You Have Always With You

by Mohamed Sarfan

Our loved ones we put underfoot
The dead you have always with you
To see they stay stubbornly put
We grow our food in human dust

The dead themselves are lasting things
We have them with us always
As lasting as heirloom wedding rings
The dead you cannot send away

We see them drift in many places
Where else would they be but here?
The world is full of their floating faces
The Earth is ours because it’s us

We bury and burn them, but aren’t misled
The dead you have always with you
The living plump pillows on beds of dead
We grow our food in human dust

Even the first dead walk our world
We have them with us always
Adam’s ashes are blown and swirled
The dead you cannot send away

Wherever you go you kick their dust
Where else would they be but here?
The sun glows red with human rust
The Earth is ours because it’s us

They live in our minds and in our noses
The dead you have always with you
More lasting than even the priest supposes
We grow our food in human dust
The Earth is ours because it’s us
***

See all the entrants to 387th Weekly Poetry Contest