Death, despite being proud, inspires a good verse
Because I'm deeply strange, I sometimes collect things that I think would make excellent eulogy components. Like, stuff to quote on the occasion of the death of a loved one. I suspect this has something to do with the little Puritan preacher living inside my brain. You know, the guy who sees Jesus everywhere and wants to make everything a sermon. That guy. For instance, Hayden's Those Winter Sundays? Tragic magic.
THINGS SHOULDN'T BE SO HARD
A life should leave
deep tracks:
ruts where she
went out and back
to get the mail
or move the hose
around the yard;
where she used to
stand before the sink,
a worn-out place;
beneath her hand
the china knobs
rubbed down to
white pastilles;
the switch she
used to feel for
in the dark
almost erased.
Her things should
keep her marks.
The passage
of a life should show;
it should abrade.
And when life stops,
a certain space—
however small —
should be left scarred
by the grand and
damaging parade.
Things shouldn't
be so hard.
3 comments:
With a sister my age, you should be ready at any moment to step in and use your fine collection. I really liked the poem. You always find such good ones.
aw, i love this.
also... can i just point to "Tragic Magic"?!
um... i think this is ever better than nasty good (what is your version again???)
Son: Whatever. You're not decaying yet. :)
em tasty gross! (there's also "sexy ugly" from Kissing Jessica Stein). I love terms like this.
Post a Comment