Deconstructing Grief

The only way to dissolve sorrow is

to invite it in for heady Earl Grey

and egg salad sandwiches.

 

Plump the cushions and use the good china.

 

The dismantling will happen without warning,

the day you wake on the other side of the wall

to yawping crows and jolly children

jumping on their mother’s bed.

 

You will no longer be inconsolable or itinerant.

 

Flush the tequila and scour the crisper.

Fill it with vegetables in 9 different colors.

Move your shapeless dismal clothing

to the back of the closet.

 

Buy something magenta.

 

Pack your wellies and fetch your grandchildren.

There is a waterfall somewhere murmuring your names.

 

[Reprinted from Pilgrimage Magazine. 1 st place poem, ByLine Magazine contest April, 2005. 2 nd Honorable Mention, Missouri State Poetry Society Contest, 2005.]