Vultures can smell frying flesh and
Charred cells
they descend from heaven on wings carrying death
coasting over the waves of souls rising
They hover above the unsuspecting
the weak
who don’t even know they’re decaying

As a child I lie still on the deck trying to see if I can fool them
the scorching boards sizzle my flesh
but I stiffen for hours until
the wood sears itself into my back and
they begin swooping
closer and closer
till I see their ravenous black eyes, the gateway to hell, waiting for my soul to lift
And in a panic I flee,

Today I walked
and they followed me
I didn’t know I was sick until I saw them
hovering on a current of souls
waiting
To snack on the scraps of
my heart

And
Remind me — who dared search over the current and into the heavens —
That after all I am just flesh and bone.