Pumpernickel by Adara Enthaler

Pumpernickel

Transcript:

pack me with pumpernickel when you put me in the ground

I want to feed the soil and worms

with rich bread and marmalade

make my life meaningful by my nourishment

if not my accomplishment

let my flesh be food for tiny life

that never agonised over its meaning

never wondered what it would leave behind when it was dead

so let me be carelessly, comfortably dead

after a lifetime spent marinating this meat in self love

and basting in easy touches

from the kindest of charismatic friends

when my legs can no longer lift me to dancing

lay me down in the morgue

and truss me up with garlic and rosemary

the way my mother taught me

rested for thirty minutes and handled with care

the way I will lay her down before me

score my skin and press in seeds to grow trees

that will live longer than I ever did

that will cast shadows to cool rabbits

and picnics on hot summer days

that have never known wickedness or anguish

let me be uncomplicated and sturdy

let me be soft

let me rest.

Find more work from Adara on her website, or right here on Baby Teeth, or get a copy of her zine Equidistant, or see her short story Genie in Never Heard of Them. Plus, you can follow her on Instagram.

Executive Producers

Sue White

Daniel Henson