Bequest
No quart of homemade bean soup
turfed by a bonnet of accreted crystals
way, way back in the freezer
behind the chops
or a Third Place 4H ribbon
flattened to a fare thee well
between pages of Mary Baker Eddy
the armature of the also-ran
rendered ages ago
into a dissipated cloud of cattle mist
threadbare Donegal wool sweater
crisscrossed with cabled bandoleers
a half-life of lanolin and sweat
hissing away through a cigarette burn
cauterized over the heart
a mournful country song on 45
pressed at your expense
with a loan from an army buddy
the mix muddy
B side a cover
Vaya Con Dios in one take
or a lost wax bust in bronze
of noted mathematician
Hedy Lamarr
coasters from the Drake
matches from the Bourbon House
a thin white wafer chipped
from the Elgin Marbles
if I’ve got the story right
the arrowhead
they dug from your shoulder
the crumpled slug
they gave you to bite on
a pâpier maché modal
of the Heartbreak Hotel
corked vial of water
from the River Jordon
the Keys To The Kingdom
the Song of Solomon
not even
the answer to last week’s puzzle.
You left little behind to posterity
only paltry leavings for poetry.
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