A Dead Man, his Hat, and a Colorful Minnow Make an Attempt at Meaningful 
Conversation

						(For Pat H.)

The man is buried in such a posture
that it would appear to have doubled
up prior to internment.  The knees
touch the skin, and the hands are disposed
in front of the face.  The head is turned
to the west.  Do not mistake this as prayer,

he says to his hat which remains silent
throughout.  I am the knot
of the Aser tree, says the dead
man to the same hat, clearly referring
to the tree which wound itelf
around the coffin of Osiris.

Where he got this piece of information
is unknown because the man never studied
Egyptology.  The hat lifts itself
four inches off the man's skull,
exposing shaved skin and a very small
piece of payprus upon which is written

how it could be that the man on the screen
stays alive despite being caught
in the cross hairs of the falling snow
which fills the sky and the emptyness
behind the snow and behind the fires
and behind the wind with its birds.

After these acts follows the almost
insensible creation of men and women
by the process of weeping.  The minnow
weeps and weeps and disperses the darkness
by weeping the sun and the moon 
out of his eyes.