Cadaver

They say that holding on to the past

is like tying a corpse

to your back and taking it along

with you

wherever you go,

the stench horrible,

people around you hold their noses

and avoid you like

the proverbial plague.

(A radio DJ spouts such

words of wisdom

between Beyonce’s song

about replacing her lover

and a commercial for detergents)

Driving in rush hour traffic

with a knot of grief

in my throat

I believe he’s speaking

just to me.

So I’m thinking

I should let memory die

let loving you go

imagine the maggots surface

white and thick and sticky

from the depths of  your eyes

I drowned in once

and try to hold in my hands

the crumbling flesh

of your once-loved body

as it falls

bit

by

bit

from

the skeleton of

your devotion

I should untie you

from the back of my heart

dig a hole in the dark deep

night of my past

and bury you,

kisses and all.