Buried Alive

Livia Natalia (Brazil)
translated by Tiffany Higgins

The dead one’s body
has an indecisive presence
that keeps grinding the world around it
with teeth that roar.

The dead body devours
the remains of the world

as if it were biting an apple
removing from it
the fine granule of each delay.

The corpse, passing by
carried like a resuscitated child

bears in its hands
crossed over its stomach
the clear sign
of its fruitless hunger.