ENDING

Maybe there is a Me inside of me
and, when I lie dying, he
will crawl out. Through my toe.
Green on the green rug, and then
white on the wall, and then
over the window sill, up the trunk
of the apple tree, he
will turn brown and rough and warty
to match the bark. But you'll be
able to see--(who will be
able to see?) his little jelly
belly pulsing with the heart inside
his transparent hide.
And, once on the top bough,
tail clinging, as well as "hands,"
he'll turn the purest blue
against the sky---
(say it's a clear day, and I don't die
at night.) Maybe from there
he'll take wing--That's it!--
an ARCHAEOPTERYX! Endless,
the possibilities, my little Soul,
once you exit from my toe.
But, Oh,
looking it up, I read:
"Archaeopteryx, generally considered
the first bird... (although)
closely related to certain small
dinosaurs... could not fly."
A pain... Oh, I
feel a pain in my toe!

~May Swenson