Ritual
by Will Neuenfeldt
The dead stand
naked in summer.
Gaunt fingers flail
mistaken for waves,
flail too far and daisies
push back into soil.
Trunk leg is severed
from the foot when
arms fall and toes are
too stubborn to leave.
What remains is the ankle,
a headstone where age
is added by lines and
someone else’s initials
are carved in bark.
The body is then cremated
one limb at a time,
its ghost billows
above the canopy and
reunites with ancestors
across blue prairie.
Will Neuenfeldt studied English at Gustavus Adolphus College and his poems are published in Capsule Stories, Months to Years, and Red Flag Poetry. He lives in Cottage Grove, MN, home of the dude who played Steven Stifler in those American Pie movies and a house Teddy Roosevelt slept in.
