Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal, 3/11
GOD WILL FORGIVE YOU
God will forgive you.
The mad dog’s bite will be upon you.
Even when you’re a corpse the impression
will be there. Face up in your coffin
your cold body will smell like rotten teeth.
No one will come to visit you. You will
be one of the unforgiven on earth, but
God will forgive you.
Beneath the earth your soulless bones
won’t reveal the gaping wound on your
flesh turned to ash. Your identity and
your name will be unknown. Not a soul
will cry for you where you waste away.
No one will know your religion.
This will be your homeland.
There will come a day when all of this
ugliness will rub off on someone.
You will hear someone cry at your grave,
some child who talks to your ghost.
The wind will blow strong at the cemetery.
Kites will crash into the trees.
Birds will fall dead by the dozens.
Long lines of funeral marchers will stop by,
sharing a smoke, chattering like crows.
And God will forgive you.
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