Elegy

To dust go the earrings and bracelets.
To smoke go the glamorous wrists.
Each noble earlobe, each Egyptian eye, 

to smoke; to dust.
To dust go the motes, the specks of truth.
To dust go the earrings and bracelets.

To dust go the toenails, the shyness, the ruse
of hope; the silver curls, the high cheekbones. 
Each noble earlobe, each Egyptian eye,

to erasure, to oblivion. To never go
the heartbeats, the miseries. 
To dust go the earrings and bracelets.

To fire and smoke. To dust 
go the compulsions, the aphasia, the obsessions.
Each noble earlobe, each Egyptian eye.

To dust, each eyelash. To flame,
the pelvic bones, the femurs, the ribs. 
To dust go the earrings and bracelets.
Each noble earlobe, each Egyptian eye.

                                                         To dust.

Susan Kelly-DeWitt | Mudlark No. 38
Contents | July Sunset