To Thomas Merton:

Let me die in plein aire in plain air or water or something alive.
No hospitals please! No tubes and incisions, or heavy after-costs.
Just bird songs, and people building things, or planting potatoes;
And breeze—oh yes, please let there be a breeze-
Preferably from the East.
And if, they cut my head off, fine
As long as I’m languid, rested and wild
And thankful that it was quick!
Like a fox who darts out, suddenly hit by a car
Or a squirrel who takes one too many leaps of faith
And lands on a transfuser in rain
Or a monk who gets electrocuted in a bathtub
While studying stillness.
Let me die like that,
Or like Enoch who saved
On funeral costs! Or, Elijah, who simply ascended….
Or Philip who saved on airfare.