"The Body is Decomposing" by Hailey Stumpo
Alyssa Froehling | Anti-Elegy
I’m in my funeral clothes. A dark veil
turns my eyes to stone. This horse
has been dead so long I dust its bones.
Even what’s long-gone deserves
dignity. A dark veil trails behind me
like engine smoke from a broken
down vehicle. My great-grandma’s car
was as wide as a boat. It died after it burst
into flames. When it’s my time
to combust, let my last words be
a sentence no one will remember.
Let me be gone & stay gone,
shrouded in soil instead of memory.
Marriage to curse & then all goes
back to the earth. When it’s my time,
let my last words be, I wanted to be loved
before I had to leave. My heart
was grand because it was open
wide as a new bird’s mouth. It died
after it was left out too long
in the cold. This horse has been dead
for so long its bones are dust. Carriage
to hearse & then all goes
back to the earth. & somehow
I’m standing on the side of the road
still wearing all your clothes.
turns my eyes to stone. This horse
has been dead so long I dust its bones.
Even what’s long-gone deserves
dignity. A dark veil trails behind me
like engine smoke from a broken
down vehicle. My great-grandma’s car
was as wide as a boat. It died after it burst
into flames. When it’s my time
to combust, let my last words be
a sentence no one will remember.
Let me be gone & stay gone,
shrouded in soil instead of memory.
Marriage to curse & then all goes
back to the earth. When it’s my time,
let my last words be, I wanted to be loved
before I had to leave. My heart
was grand because it was open
wide as a new bird’s mouth. It died
after it was left out too long
in the cold. This horse has been dead
for so long its bones are dust. Carriage
to hearse & then all goes
back to the earth. & somehow
I’m standing on the side of the road
still wearing all your clothes.
Alyssa Froehling is a poet from the Midwest. Her poems appear most recently in Meridian, Hunger Mountain, and Tinderbox Poetry Journal, and are forthcoming in Colorado Review. She was a finalist for Radar Poetry's 2024 Coniston Prize and she is a recipient of two University and College Poetry Prizes from the Academy of American Poets. Currently, she is the Associate Poetry Editor of Sundog Lit and lives in Madison, WI with her partner and dog, Duckie. Her website is www.alyssummaritimum.com.
Hailey Stumpo is a Dover-based fine artist currently pursuing a degree in studio art at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. Her works have been acquired by private collectors in Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, including renowned oil painter Dr. Sandra Corpora, by whom Stumpo has been mentored for three years. You can find Hailey on Instagram @indieannaartwork and on her website.
