And so, life goes on. People buying and selling, eating and drinking, caring for their children, laboring in the fields…
Category Archives: Poetry
Post Office Funeral
Every griefreminds usof every other grief. I hardly knew this woman,yet I weep,as I drive her ashesto the post officeand mail themto her sister in Florida. Both pallbearer and priest,I pray silently,as I lay her box to restinside another box,shroud it gentlyin plain brown paper,and seal it upwith tape. “One last adventure,”I say to her,toContinue reading “Post Office Funeral”
The Cost of Living
The first fine frosty morning
of fall.
Every branch,
every blade of grass,
picked out in patterns
of wispy white.
Dawn Chorus
My first Easterwithouta congregation.Restless,I risein the early morning hoursto the soundof the dawn choruspouring out timeless hymnsto the open sky. In a borrowed gardennot my own,I now feed birdsinstead of people,offering fresh waterand mealwormsin place of bread and wine. Instead of souls,I tend flowers.They areless complicated,but the needsare much the same. Above it all,where theContinue reading “Dawn Chorus”
Scarred
Last fall,
they found a spot
of melanoma
on my arm.
The treatment:
a plastic surgeon
carved out a section
of my skin…
The Birds Know
The birds know
that it is spring.
Even though
there is snow
on the ground.
Even though
the sidewalks
are icy…
Forgiveness
Doing laundry
is not an event.
It is a cycle.
Like menstruation.
Or the rising
and falling
of tides.
Or the gradual lengthening
and shortening
of days…
But Lent
I would love to become
the kind of person
who makes sure the dishes
are done
every night
so she can wake up
in the morning
to the peaceful welcome
of a clean kitchen…
Diana Elizabeth Carroll 