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.]