Bon Voyage
Posted: October 30th, 2024, 8:28 am
one bright morning last week
mom felt she'd had enough
and breathed her last
it came as no surprise
and yet it did
after a hectic week
of phone calls
of arrangements and procedures
and a great outpouring of cash
the family gathered at the cemetery
and huddled in the cold
beside our cars
getting reacquainted
most I knew well -
my daughter
siblings and their kids
and a few of their kids' kids
now nearly grown
a lone black figure
stood by the grave
beckoning
we made our way
shuffling through the dead leaves
there, a few words from scriptures
promising the impossible and unlikely
but no one wept
there was no need
to shed tears for a woman
now free
unshackled
released from the prison her world had become
there followed a moment of silence
the wind rustled the few leaves still unfallen
a crow's call echoed through the hills
and a distant tractor cleared its throat
no one spoke
until the figure in black
posed a question:
"if you could describe her in one word
what would it be?"
the silence stretched
and quivered
and finally broke:
"shy" someone said
"a reader" said another
someone followed with a quip
about Danielle Steele
and murmured laughter
rippled around our circle
"mischievous" someone said
and I recounted the time
when my brother had gifted her
with a potted plant
that everyone but she knew
was marijuana -
and her defiant delight when she learned what it was
"devoted" someone said
and my brother recalled
how on this very spot
an angry grouse had emerged from the wood
interrupting her task of tending my father's headstone
and chased her back to her car
more stories followed
none of them sad
our laughter chased the chilly silence
into the woods surrounding the cemetery
where it sulked and pouted
because its mission to cast the pall of Death
had been foiled
and we had instead exulted
in the warm glow of Life
while the figure in black
had just smiled
mom felt she'd had enough
and breathed her last
it came as no surprise
and yet it did
after a hectic week
of phone calls
of arrangements and procedures
and a great outpouring of cash
the family gathered at the cemetery
and huddled in the cold
beside our cars
getting reacquainted
most I knew well -
my daughter
siblings and their kids
and a few of their kids' kids
now nearly grown
a lone black figure
stood by the grave
beckoning
we made our way
shuffling through the dead leaves
there, a few words from scriptures
promising the impossible and unlikely
but no one wept
there was no need
to shed tears for a woman
now free
unshackled
released from the prison her world had become
there followed a moment of silence
the wind rustled the few leaves still unfallen
a crow's call echoed through the hills
and a distant tractor cleared its throat
no one spoke
until the figure in black
posed a question:
"if you could describe her in one word
what would it be?"
the silence stretched
and quivered
and finally broke:
"shy" someone said
"a reader" said another
someone followed with a quip
about Danielle Steele
and murmured laughter
rippled around our circle
"mischievous" someone said
and I recounted the time
when my brother had gifted her
with a potted plant
that everyone but she knew
was marijuana -
and her defiant delight when she learned what it was
"devoted" someone said
and my brother recalled
how on this very spot
an angry grouse had emerged from the wood
interrupting her task of tending my father's headstone
and chased her back to her car
more stories followed
none of them sad
our laughter chased the chilly silence
into the woods surrounding the cemetery
where it sulked and pouted
because its mission to cast the pall of Death
had been foiled
and we had instead exulted
in the warm glow of Life
while the figure in black
had just smiled
Beautiful poem, gracias for sharing!