[ music: John Lombardo/lyric: Natalie Merchant ]

as frail hinges

pivot on a case's door

commemorative

souvenirs from places

containers change

with each occasion

a cellophane encased

display of paper

certificate

to credit years of service

a tool of central enterprises

the early hope

for permanence

the words

the rings

consistency

the social security

a miracle is high tragedy

thought mistaken

for a memory

clear the dust from

smiles in boxes

pass a patterned wall

recall their voices

a local post

will list your friends

in order of

disappearance

the lawn scattered

tins feed birds

a portion baked for

absent guests

and the mass edition icon

God sent comfort

your salvation

but who grants absolution

for sins that

never were committed

tension makes a tangle

of each thought

becomes an inconvenience

sound as it never penetrates

as servile edges

break and

feint

thought mistaken

for a memory

a dress length

assassination

a fractured family tie

another christening

christening

christening

christening