Lisa Zaran

What do you suppose happens
when a poet dies, deep in the night?

Is it true Miroslav, that a lone blackbird
wakes and sings for all its worth?

And if a poet takes his own life?
What then? Does shame keep

the lone blackbird quiet?
Is it his business to sing anyhow,

regardless of perversity,
as the poets blood mixes with the earth

to feed the plants and cause envy
amongst the stones.

And what if a poet refuses life
before he's had a chance to be born?

Should we bury him beneath an eyelid?
Should we pose him on the tip of a tongue?

What should we do? Murder him?