Egon Schiele, "Death and girl" (1915)

What if I lost all those things

Humor, wit, beauty

What if I lost it all

And there was nothing left of me

And what if I were just a corpse

And what if I were less than that

Would you still love me

Would you tunnel into the ground

Until the sun came out

So that you could have my body to hold

What if the sun were gone

Would you hold my body in the dead of night

Once he did

Once he did hold my body in the dead of night

If I forgot him then, will I forget him still

If I always loved him, will I love again

Dark night that is always calling

My body is thin paper to the air

We call conversation

Dark language

My body is dark red paper tonguing

The sun of the grave that I am in

Will you go tunneling through my grave

To find the setting sun

Will you go through my grave to get to another sun

One that is deep and blue

And fiery

Dorothea Lasky (1978). Columbia Poetry Review, no.24. Chicago: Columbia College Chicago, 2011.