AUK

Turns out the bird is what matters
You take a Noah -- pretty good seaman,
Family man, likes his alcohol --
And he sends out, say, an auk.
Auks are all gamblers at heart so
He'll bring back a deck of cards
Or maybe some loaded dice.
Next thing, he owns the Ark
Noah has to start pawning animals
Planning to redeem the zebras
And wapitis and elands and aardvarks
Once his luck comes back. Captain Auk
Steers the boat on and on.
Dry land? What use is dry land to him?

ONE OF AESRED'S

For convenience he always
Kept some pallbearers. with him.
They occupied their evenings
With cards or drinks.
Mornings were spent training
Carrying coffins with them
While running errands.

DURING THE RETREAT

Shultz and me found the corpse the first time

Lying with coins on its eyes in a mostly burnt house

Decently wrapped in an unbleached shroud. The Corporal

Spoke a few words and we buried it beneath a yew.

We found the same corpse – well, it looked the same –

In a field. It looked less peaceful than the first

Its fingers clutched tight around its scythe-handle.

We were being pursued so simply threw some sand on it.

The third corpse was shuffling cards at a crossroads

Grains of sand were caught in its hair. We didn’t speak

But it gave me a shrewd glance as we passed.

Time is a left-handed relation of mine and that night

Dropped by to visit in my dreams, not as an man

But as a kid, with a bag of marbles and some bent nails

Which he seemed to feel were valuable.

“Unchancy,” he said, “finding the same corpse

More than once. If you find it again, ask it

Why it had my scythe. Perhaps it’s kin.”