rot

dear apricots & arugala
& wrinkle forehead & last pair
of sneakers, i am sealing the windows
& doors for you. we are not going
to fester or spoil this year.
brother in the bathroom
brother in the attic. freezer
family unit. fill each room
with fresh blue ice. ceiling snow.
basement bomb shelter.
the big secret is
everything puts of dying 
in winter. standing outside,
waist-deep in snow angels, we had
no fears of green mold blooming
on our paper plate faces.
now as the birds start encouraging 
humidity, i hesitate at everything.
morning dew on my ankles. 
i had a rot starting at my apex
& traveling to the surface.
it was only a matter of sunrises 
before i was nothing but 
a phantom. bought freezer after freezer
& plugged them into the holy sockets.
churning like mules. the cold
slow at first & then disasterously sudden.
putting on jacket after jacket.
why do we resist the inevitable
statue? i just wanted to look
beautiful by the time summer comes,
then i can putrify in a celebratory way.
for now every sits & stares 
at the frozen tv not eating 
or blinking, just learning new ways
to inhale. brothers frozen solid 
like latent cicadas. dad starfished
on the floor. mom a chicken nugget.
everyone so safe in their freeze.
we have all the time in the world now
to stare out & write skull-only poems.
tell stories to ourselves. 
won't you come be frozen with me?
we can ignore everything outside.
let the fires eat the coast 
& mushrooms sell each other conspiracies,
all the while still & waiting
waiting for the next great unthaw.
i have a bed room full of ice already
just for you.