Ross White
The secret is to swallow cities whole,
drink from the gulch after floodwaters come,
make a nest of stars to safely pass night
and emerge fresh in the morning. Drink beer
by the barrel, gin by the distillery,
smoke fields of tobacco wrapped in muslin.
Live like a titan until living
kills you. Cronus sent mammoth
clouds streaming across continents
with a single breath. Theia birthed
the moon. Why be terrified
of the afterlife? It could be high school
in Kansas, mopping bunker floors,
cubicle full of actuaries, miles of ramen.
Not hell, but neither harps and tin halos.
Not a new haircut, per se. Just a trim.