A Death of My Own

by Soibam Haripriya

Of all the things
I wish to own
I wish my death
To be my own
A quiet dignity Of privacy
Not a grainy picture in a newspaper
Not a being
ripped from a warm cocoon
Not a mere body trespassed in life
trespassed beyond life
I wish not for the raging flames
to engulf me into ashes

I wish
a piece of earth
to provide me solace in its honeyed chest
To undo the poison
This life has fed
For a flower of red
To bloom
From my navel
And a drop of dew
To adorn its petals

For the wind to play
amongst my branches
And carry in its trail
Tales of my brimming passion
For a lover to pluck my flowers
And embellish the beloved
With my petals
With my scent
With this
You will infuse my death
with life again