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.]