Dream Song #17 by Daniel Borzutzky

Dream Song #17

They took my body to the forest

They asked me to climb a ladder

 

I did not want to climb a ladder

But they forced me to climb the ladder

 

If you don't climb the ladder

we will bury you in the mud

 

I had to decide  should I die

by hanging  or by burial

 

I climbed the ladder and they wrapped

a belt around the thick limb of a tree

 

And when I could no longer breathe

they tossed me into a stream

 

And I floated to the edge of the village

where someone prayed for my soul

 

It's like this in a lullaby

for the end of the world:

 

The options for the end 

are endless

 

But this is not really a lullaby

for the end of the world

 

It's about the beginning

what happens when we start to rot

 

in the daylight

The way the light shines on

 

the ants and worms and parasites

loving our bodies

 

It's about the swarms of dogs

gnawing our skin and bones

 

Do you know what it's like

when a ghost licks your intestines

 

To avoid the hole

the children must sing sweetly, softly

 

To avoid the hole

they must fill their songs with love