WAKING BEFORE DAWN
When I am clawing through
The scattered cigarette papers
In front of the alarm clock
I suspect I have left my body
In my other clothes
The neighbor’s oldest daughter
Runs their dog every morning
Wearing only a slip
She was thin and beautiful
And her thighs never touched
I have spent whole
Summer evenings
Trying to light a roofing nail
With the glowing ass
Of a firefly
Death fishes the bay
At the foot of Liberty Street
Using a casket key
For a hook
Chasing catfish
I found that I had
Left my body
Locked in the car overnight
Waiting at the wheel
Sober enough to drive
Girl, Running in Surf -- Alexi Borzoi Zaitsev
A casket key is a handle placed in the side of a coffin to tighten the seal on a gasketed casket by mechanically pressurizing the lid to the bottom. A gasket is the rubber lining between the lid and base of a metal casket.
ReplyDelete