by Janelle Cordero
i spend an unreasonable amount of time thinking about death because / science tells
me i will die and my body will decay i can be buried / in a mushroom suit that feeds
my decomposition to the fungi spores or i can be / buried in a pod that will grow
into a tree aboveground or / i can be burned and then spread in a body of water
like herbs shaken into a broth / the body does not survive and / religion tells
me the body will die dust to dust but / something beyond the body some /
essence of me is eternal and will / live on i want something in between
rot and forever something like / the 905 years given to enosh i know
everyone says this but i wouldn’t / waste it maybe some days would
be spent just sunning in the grass but / the rest of the time i’ll wake
up early to spend / hours at my desk reading manifestos and
studying the many / languages and religions of the world
i’ll travel to every country and / i’ll know and love so
many generations i’ll have / what i have now but /
more so /
Janelle Cordero is an artist and educator living in the Pacific Northwest. She has published one full-length poetry collection and two chapbooks. Her upcoming poetry collection, “Woke to Birds,” will be released in October, 2019 through Vegetarian Alcoholic Press. Click here to visit her website.