Our loved ones we put underfoot The dead you have always with you To see they stay stubbornly put We grow our food in human dust The dead themselves are lasting things We have them with us always As lasting as heirloom wedding rings The dead you cannot send away We see them drift in many places Where else would they be but here? The world is full of their floating faces The Earth is ours because it’s us We bury and burn them, but aren’t misled The dead you have always with you The living plump pillows on beds of dead We grow our food in human dust Even the first dead walk our world We have them with us always Adam’s ashes are blown and swirled The dead you cannot send away Wherever you go you kick their dust Where else would they be but here? The sun glows red with human rust The Earth is ours because it’s us They live in our minds and in our noses The dead you have always with you More lasting than even the priest supposes We grow our food in human dust The Earth is ours because it’s us ***