Taura Scott

The Talk

Palomino tells bay

the horrors

of death

The bay listens;

imagines through

clouded eyes,

his lips curl back

in disbelief.

Lois P. Jones

Acrobats in the Tomb

Tell me emperor, what spirit goods

shall accompany you?

You’re just like us but more clever.

You want your toys – a zither player

and a contortionist. A warmonger

and one billion actors for a play.

Shall we bury our ipods

and laptops? Include an old vinyl

of Horowitz playing Chopin nocturnes?

Or the Tibetan Book of the Dead?

To ensure a ruler lives forever,

bury all his soldiers by his side.