Recovering Fossils
Recovering Fossils
Aubrey Bahala
Smell of soil one Friday evening
Seem to be in great distress for smoking
Several sticks of Dunhill International Lights.
There’s soil between my swift fingers,
Soil inserted in my nails, Disgusted
As I am, I rinsed it with boiling water
Only to shout for help a second after, bear
The pain of swollen skin and
Throbbing flesh one Saturday morning.
I buried it here, but why can’t I find it?
I can remember burying it here, years ago.
Eaten by the warm earth. Where is it?
Where was it? Where will it be?
It can’t fade, it’s buried. Such a precious
Thing to waste won’t decay with a corpse.
I won’t allow it to decay.
Memories and a love lost
Are two things you should never let go.
Living in the past, recovering feelings.
Only to find earthworms and maggots
Feasting upon what I treasured the most.
Mem’ries, like a dextrose sustaining
Thy soul.
