The beloved is dead

The beloved is dead. Limbs
And all the body's
Miraculous parts
Scattered across Egypt,
Stained with dark mud.

We must find them, gather
Them together, bring them
Into a single place
As an anthologist might collect
All the poems that matter
Into a single book, a book
Which is the body of the beloved,
Which is the world.

Copyright © 2005 Gregory Orr All rights reserved
from Concerning the Book that is the Body of the Beloved
Copper Canyon Press
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission