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Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Bea is Alone

Sitting down front
with her 
newly fragmented family,
Bea accepts the flag
expertly folded into
a triangle,
but doesn’t hear
the words accompanying it.

Back at the house
there is exhaled relief,
aluminum tins
with Mexican take-out,
and everyone’s eating,
and there is laughter,
but no one is laughing
too heartily.

In a few well-spaced waves
the mourners leave,
save for the lingering daugher
who stays another night,
and another still
until, at last,
she must rejoin her own life.

Now, finally,
Bea is alone,
not just in her home,
but for the first-time
in her adult life.

[For my moms, Pat, Winnie and Bea, all widows now.]

6 comments:

  1. Clearly and vividly put. A wonderfully executed portrait-tribute.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, it was a composite of widows.

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  2. Very sweet and sad.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, all these widows are sweet and sad. Thanks.

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  3. sad...hard to be so alone...esp after the loss of someone...that emptiness can be so tangible....

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  4. This is powerful, my friend.

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