And Then I Saw

My body, laid out on a marble slab. Naked but for a linen sheet tucked under Its chin, as though to keep the patient warm. A solemn band approached; identified The late departed with what looked like mingled Relief, mild satisfaction, and bereavement. One of them took away an arm—the right, Was it?—and loped off with a spring in his step. Which prompted others to do likewise: here A shoulder (suitable for crying on), there a foot, there an eye and there an ear. Plump already, one scooped out the belly. Just who you’d imagine claimed the head. Not the one I hoped tugged loose a rib. Some, by no means all, I knew as friends; But felt no bitterness, instead, acceptance. This, while watching their several withdrawals, Travelers moving farther out and deeper Into the ringing distance—who all began To flourish, somehow more intently themselves Than they had earlier resolved to be. Was glad of that, despite a fit of shivers (Simple human nature still presiding) When I took note of the rummage that remained, Wishing a greener plot had been marked out For what had breathed with so much spark and promise. My turn, then, to come forward for a closer Look; and, since no one else had carried off That steady, flexibly strung pump at rest Beneath the sternum, take it for my own, Sensing its mute but anchored trust that parts Lucky for others would befriend as well— Oh love —even the heir that flesh once named.