Matthew Zapruder

THE DEATH POEMS OF ULALUME GONZÁLEZ DE LEÓN

lots of poets
speak to the dead
or so they say
but who dies
on purpose
so she can speak
to the living
who gives
one last breath
back to the world
then stays
some time longer
to speak in the ear
of one who loved her
or maybe just us
her recorders
I don’t know
whether ghosts feel
that’s a subject
for the mystic
I am not
I want to know
what is past feeling
only for myself
a silver taste
appears in my mouth
so I drift away
to the pages
the death poems
I join them again
she spoke
one last time
into our ears
then without sentiment
went elsewhere

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