huffing and puffing
they carried the corpse
of a poem
onto the sky-burial site
without the touch of an ax or a knife
it fell to pieces by itself
embalmed with aromatic oil
they tossed, high into the sky,
words and phrases
that were once beautiful and in good rhyme
hoping the Emissary of Death
would catch and take them
to heaven
without even casting a glance
the vultures, with their wings folded
just perched on the dead branches nearby
they had been taken in too many times
by such tasteless stuff
devoid of flesh and blood
Sky burial is a Tibetan custom of disposing a corpse by cutting it into
pieces which are then scattered for the circling vultures.