Kathy
I wrote a poem
For my sister-in-law
And then
Started to question everything
About it
That it had no heart
No real
Let alone deep
Humanity
That it didn’t address mourning
At all well
The reality
The need
The inevitability
Regardless of how we might
Believe we can reason
Things through
Not that reason has no place
But who can figure death
Each time
Or at any time
It’s a surprise
It shouldn’t happen
It always happens
This
Side of Enoch
Anyway
But we who do not walk with God
And are subsumed
At last
Must simply know that death
Is coming
Not as a person
As much as a failure
Of our systems
And it’s an actual person
Each time
Who had a life
Who had preferences
And
Dislikes
And those of us still here
Should feel for them
What we feel
Thinking
Too
Whatever we must think
Feel the loss
The pain of that
Take comfort
In the placement of heaven
After this
Or something next
However it might be described
Or named
Something is on the way
Though maybe
We mortals
Will have to rest a while
First
Our souls to be cared for
In that
Sleep restores
As we’ve known in our daily lives
In mortality
That is
In normalcy
Anyway
I’m sorry she is gone
I shall miss her
It’s not sibling pain
Perhaps
And yet
Bonds by marriage
Still hurts
To have her gone
to Beth about her sister Kathy
C L Couch
Photo by Javier Cañada on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
News about My Brother
x
Something’s wrong
She says it’s not COVID
Maybe something
With his heart
x
They’re waiting for a bed
As all hospitals are
Currently, especially
Challenged
x
This is my brother
The ablest of us:
Muscled
Well-groomed,
Building a life
From the Army to the factory
To executive positions
x
Then when corporate-raiding
In the ‘80s ruined so many
Lives, he built a business
Helping children
Learn
x
He married Beth
They have two children,
Sons (nephews) who
Are themselves husbands
And fathers now
x
This news is not about me
But him and them,
And they are far away
Though hearts string us together
And certain rituals
From time to time
x
Not me
But I am shaking with the news
And the frightened parts
Of my imagination
x
Earlier this morning
(before the news),
I threw salt over
My left shoulder;
If it could help
Or a voodoo doll
Or a contract with a witch,
Then let it
x
In the mean time
I’ll be praying
x
In the mean time,
Please be praying for your own
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Dušan Veverkolog on Unsplash
Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
x
clcouch123 
Recent Comments