To Get Ash You Need Fire No Matter What Religion
Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem
The West has long had more respect for man,
His body, than the Hindus and the ones
Who put their corpses out for vultures, fan
The flames to burn the bodies of the sons
Of God. The Christians say the words, “From dust
To dust” and “ashes to ashes,” but then
Try saving bodies chemically … and thrust
The corpses in the ground. The mortal men
There rot away while hidden in the dirt.
This hiding is the most important part
Of all this process. But we can’t avert
The truth. Formaldehyde is in the heart.
The vultures and the burning Hindu pyres,
The grave, can’t pre-expunge our hot desires.
~ Phillip Whidden