Death Hat

I'm wearing my death
hat. The hat I wear only
to funerals. I'm
wearing it now to see
you, to see
if you will see
the significance.
I would not take
my hat off to death, so
you take it off for me,
from my head,
through your hand to the air - sail
the open window, land
in a prepared
furnace

where
it seasons the smoke
of your burning leaves.