The Gargoyle

don’t enter the graveyard child 
everything that was placed six feet under has rotted 
not even the soil can feed on those remains right now
look at the statues 
their grief bluntly slices the meaning of heaven 
you used to wear around your neck when you were little 
do you remember? 
cleaning it with toothpaste and scouring powder 
once a week 
to keep it shiny and untainted

your people
bury their loved ones and dress in black 
but there’s no alternative to dying 
they carry their own deaths in their bones 
crying and kissing corpses 
afraid to admit that death changes 
everything and nothing at the same time 
for they have seen that when life stops life always goes on 
put up with this wicked duality, child 
live then die

(oct. 2018 )