permutate

after the vultures have had their fill

lichens stretch out their many-pronged fronds

towards what is left of the sun 

moss curls out in-between webbed knuckles

spreads across the ground

everything returns, and turns 

 

we build steeples with our hands long after

the church has burned

you look at love and later love

becomes the lens through which you see

 

trees caress the sky

we trade places and lives

meat for metal, metal for wood

wood for fire, fire for salt

salt for oil, oil for gems

gems for coins

for the ferryman

to trade here for there

 

vultures dance with their wings spread wide

facing each other

all feathers straining outwards