giftwrap 

we make gifts of the mundane.
a toothbrush in a little red box. a dead bird
in a nest of tissue paper. 
come let's get older. let's eat nothing
but confetti until the cows have wings. 
i am hungry for a taste of luxury.
of velvet packages & mailmen in the sky.
we do not get rich enough or maybe
we get rich too often. i don't know
how to crave without betraying myself. 
i have enough. i have a little cruet 
of oil i use to bless the tangerines.
the deer come to lick the salt pillars
in our yard. i have run from gods before
but now i am safe here. 
it is better to just give them the show they want.
roll the rock. ride the horse.
rip the snakes from the soil. grow dragon beans
& eat them all on one wild night.
i have held my heart like a blue speckled quail egg.
tiny & rattling. let's not get too distracted
by the costume jewelry. there are people
who wear crowns of teeth. if you get
right down to it what i want is a surprise party.
i want every to jump out from behind 
an elephant & say, "you are not dead!"
the gift is the reminder. a kazoo in the pulpit.
chicken & wearing their glow feathers.
i find a block of gold & tell the fairies 
to come & eat it before i get
any ideas about who i am.