--previously published in The Hat--

   
     1

It's as if
the real
thing "“
your own
absence "“
can never be
uncovered.


     2

Each actor's face
seems to have survived
the same brave battle

to remain in character.
They're posed
on the rubble

used to indicate
the past.

It turns out
this is heaven.


     3

In the present

cancer sets up
a free market
in your gut.

The fog lifts
and the birds start in.

Each works
to replace itself
with a bit of racket.