REQUEST FOR MY FIFTH BIRTHDAY

by Chad Sweeney

I want my head on the totem pole.

Just above the eagle and below the rat.

Just above the cormarant and below the clam. 

Between the abacus and the judge’s book. 

I want my effigy carved in dice or

 the old slow jaw of a yak. To be way up 

in the wind, in a nest of lightnings, 

reposed inside the dark wet wood.