Originally published on November 26, 2021 on the now-defunct Best American Poetry blog. Republished in The Trouble Clef.
To live, one must make an inventory:
Item 1: The sky. It is everywhere.
Item 2: People. There are many of them.
Item 3: It is hard to believe, but there are still birds. They occupy space between people and the sky. Sometimes they touch the heavens; sometimes they touch the earth.
Item 4: Conceptual thinking.
Item 5: Garbage cans. Discarded objects, personal treasures no longer loved such as broken limbs of dolls.
Item 6: Cars. Be aware of them.
Item 7: The rest of the world.
The dead are watching the shadows caused by light.
Inside of each shadow, a small invisible death is practicing the art of dying.
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