"after death"

19/30

I, your Lazarus,
require a savior to remove my stubborn stone.
is he (she?) to be delivered unto me
via Harvard med school prophesy?

For rebirth commands some kind of death,
bathed in some newness of
carefully constructed DNA
dangling strands intertwining,
(presumably not strangling)
the delicate ecosystem of my inner self.
I must open myself up to the suffering:
lay myself upon the perilously uncomfortable bed
intended for everything but rest,
to be strapped up as sacrifice
to the life-eating bits
sniffing out prey in my blood stream.
take me, all of me, render me useless
pull the hair from my scalp,
strand by loving strand
20,000 pangs and
only then may I begin anew.

Take the varnish off nails and
ruddiness off cheeks
the spring from my step
and the step from my feet
My mind’s a wedding cake
and you’ve had but a bite
it’s bad luck not to take but one more slice.

To rise again they say I must first die
To the graph I host I beg:
don’t even try.

I’ve added up karma and hope for a 10th cone free:
have pity upon a reincarnated me.