Relics or Remains

Will We Become Relics or Remains?

A stupa is a large hemispherical

solid mound that may have

originally contained the relics

of the Buddha

according to my Art teacher.

Imagine: you die and get

a mound, a hemispherical

pile of earth.

The Pharaohs got pyramids,

even Grant got a tomb,

but Buddha got a hill—

soil, roots, worms and all.

Like we all get for our remains,

for our common decaying bodies

who’ve never had a peasant leave

a bowl of pears on their doorstep for us.

We worship what’s left of saints,

of Buddhas, and of nature,

but hasn’t anyone earned a relic or two?

Maybe a divine pinky toe, a saintly mole,

or the wisest of our wisdom teeth,

who has held on through Snickers

and Coke, wondering if she’ll be valued

when her gums unfurl like a skirt,

or when she is cut out in tenth grade

and set in a steel bowl of water,

drowned and disposed,

the first of our bones to be buried,

to die and fossilize and wait,

not for the rest of us,

but for the answer to her question

when she’s one day dug up

dusted off by horse hairs

and interpreted by wide eyes,

and finally labeled

a relic or a remain.