by Julia Griffin

“Brazilian woman arrested after taking corpse to sign bank loan: ‘She knew he was dead’
“This is the last straw … This goes beyond all limits because there can be no doubt … about
the difference between a living person and a dead person,” [a journalist] said.”
—The Guardian

LP: warm body temperature; veins pulsing; blood at work.
DP: pervasive chilliness; internal bits on hold.
LP: spleen working; bladder filling; limbs inclined to jerk.
DP: no growth (save hair and nails); skin (have I mentioned?) cold.
LP: emotion; memory; a tendency to aches.
DP: quiescence; stiffness; similarity to wax.
LP: responsibilities; fatigue, for goodness’ sakes!
DP: sequestered property; immunity to tax.
LP: infection forming; self-propulsion; joy and pain.
DP: no phlegm; no itch; no bruises; eyeballs turned to blanks.
LP: warm heart (for good or bad); (likewise) responding brain.
DP: no fear of death; some fear of fraudulence in banks.
LP: I know the difference! I prefer to be this way.
DP: What I prefer, and know, I do not choose to say.