Burial

a sun slants, slopes

through skeletal trees

there is a bird in a box

with two broken wings

and one blue egg

crushed beneath

a child’s foot

bleeds

as sparrow screams

crow laughs

a dove shudders, dies

girl’s hands make nests

in soil, make graves

a wooden merry-go-round

marks this place

where every wild thing

is contained

in its cardboard casket

a small, youthful mourner

plucks weeds

for avifauna

buried beneath

a cross of clover

protecting

rare moments of peace

one shout breaks them

all dead, all gone

his voice, her rage:

a lone

bitter

dandelion mound

Impact

i took the wrong car that day

rode far away

now there’s nothing here

but a line of ashes

and the hill where you sleep

beneath the cold soil

all this still haunts me

pulls me north

to where we grew up

and got let down

dropped into

a few moments

that took your life from mine

strange i should think

of seeing you

at a time like this

traveling thousands of miles

just to lie in the dirt

my cheek to granite

no pulse in stone

 

over a decade ago

you saw me become

silent and strange

still

you loved me

so, so many L words have I

spoken, said, written

without you here

the one i long to say

just your name

hot again in my mouth like

those warm summers

in the grass

with your lips pressed

so softly to my neck

your lips

some of the first

that i buried in my heart

because

i thought it was safe there

i always

thought you’d be safe