Pantoum

I Go to Wake the Dead

I go to wake the sleeping dead,
Not gently but with raucous noises.
I want to know if they feel dread
When required to defend their choices.

Not gently, but with forceful noise,
I demand they lay their secrets bare.
If required to defend this choice,
I’ll simply state “Because I dare.”

My demand they lay their secrets bare
Will be met with incredulity
But this I’ll do because I dare,
And dead secrets deserve no sympathy.

I’ll counter your incredulity
With “Well, you’d doubtless do the same.”
Dead secrets deserve no sympathy,
And old corpses can scarcely feel the shame.

These dead men, they would do the same
To satisfy questions long left cold
Old corpses, feeling little shame
Will feel no better when they’ve told.

Satisfied, my questions will again grow cold,
And I’ll also know if they felt dread.
Dead secrets are better when they’re told,
So I go to wake the sleeping dead.


2003 (posted 9/16/11) dawn