“Breaks & Interruptions” by Carol Durak

Breaks & Interruptions

May this be my continuity:

As I die, callously displaced like a
common deer, I’ll pass through city parks,
nibble on tender greens. Unwittingly,
of the poisonous daffodil I’ll taste.
Left on the ground, morphed into soil — there’s
something I’ll like about being dirt.
In the wind’s updraft, a speck of me will
drift, & even though it will take some time,
I’ll make it to the stony ridge, reach
the remote tower & disperse. I wasn’t
taught this. I was told: at death the body
releases its soul: it goes up or down,
but I’ll hear the singing talk of various
birds. I’ll like how their calls & responses,
rhythmic & repetitious, inspire me.
Think: negative capability: I’ll be,
in & around the cold castle, the medieval
carol, the motive that doesn’t die.

CAROL DURAK

Carol Durak, originally from Michigan, spent many years in Maine, where, along with writing, she made her living in the area of book restoration and conservation. After leaving the East Coast in 2019, she lives in New Mexico. Her recent chapbook, “Hymn Postponement,” appears in Three Chapbooks / Three Poets, published by Flowstone Press.

Headshot: Carol Durak

Photo Credit: Staff