Lover's Wish by Patricia Donegan

When I'm dead

steal my bones

cut them up

into Chinese carvings

a mountain, a sage

a heart, a leaf

to hang like stars

in the sky.

When I'm dead

make from my bones

a whistle for a child

a necklace to fondle at night

the dagger geishas use

behind silken screens

an incense burner

a comb for your hair

tangled on the pillow

a netsuke, smooth, soft

as mother's breast,

most of all make

a small clown face

that laughs a millennium.

When I'm dead

make art of my bones

bleach & dry them in the sun

pure white

startling as stars

turned round in your hand

like a porcelain cup,

then after holding my bones

my skull, arms, pelvis & feet

take my thigh bone

gently

make a flower vase.

(I've been wanting to post this for a while, it's so beautiful. There's a passage from Kahlil Gibran I like also, but it's pretty long. Maybe some other time-TC)