H e a r t   S o n s   &   H e a r t   D a u g h t e r s   of   A l l e n   G i n s b e r g

N a p a l m   H e a l t h   S p a :   R e p o r t   2 0 1 4 :   A r c h i v e s   E d i t i o n

 

 

JOSEPH RICHEY

 

 

From “At Pacal’s Tomb”

 

***

 

Tall white crosses

cast long shadows

on two old Indian women

collecting wood

in the graveyard

 

funerales economicas

funerales economicas

in Guatemala where the coffin factory makes them

3 foot long

70 per week

In Guatemala City on February 4th

they broke up a body parts ring

led by a woman who bought babies for $100

selling their organs for $25 grand in the states.

 

Funerales economicas

100,000 landless indians killed in the last twenty

years

where you can squat, grow food until the

landowner’s hired guns come

with your shallow grave

 

Where life is cheap

death is cheaper

You can even rent-a-coffin

for half a day

the procession, prayers, etc., down to the plot

& get tilted into the hole before noon

 

***

 

 

[Originally published in NHS 1995, http://www.poetspath.com/napalm/nhs95/index.html#37.]