When they cremate my body
I want you to pour the ashes
into a glass jar
or a ziplock bag
and fly them first class
in their own window seat
to a tropical island.
Let the trade winds take them
among palm trees
over the water
into an orange and purple sunset.
Too expensive, you say?
I am not leaving enough
for the tickets?
Then in your fourwheeler
drive the carcass
into the desert
where sahuaros
creosote bush
and jumping cholla abound.
Lay it - gently -
among rocks and clumps
of hedgehog cactus
so that mountain lions, coyotes,
eagles, hawks and vultures
may have a feast
before the worms get their share.
You're afraid they'll put
you in jail for murder or
illegal garbage dumping?
Why then don't you sell
the cadaver
to a cat food factory
where they will grind it finely
and allow Fluffy
Macavity
and Jellylorum
to enjoy a new taste
in their diet?
I plan to die pretty healthy
so the little darlings
will come to no harm.
You don't think you can
handle this either?
I really don't give a hoot
what you do with
"the remains"
as long as you don't
put them in an urn
to decorate a mantelpiece or
a shelf in the garage,
or stuff them in a box
which gets buried in the ground
with two crossed sticks
like bars
planted above it.
Izabel Sonia Ganz
1998
the bio
Reflecting on Key 13 of Tarot
The Crone's Poetry Pages