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On the Shelf
by Kristina Woodhillashes
finally within grasp,
fingers nudge plastic bag
rubbing flecks finer,
white bone fragments
you at your purest,
brother,
probably the softest I can recall
though even the fire
could not totally consume
your crusty nature
silver metal urn
pine tree stencil
I leave the lid off and place it close to Mom
I speak into the urn in mock greetings
jocularity covers my dread
at placing the last vestige of you
into the ground
only the thought of Dad
resting so long alone,
at last having company,
keeps me from hiding you
in a sock, or a planter
in the bay window,
or carrying you in my fanny pack
while I garden
pretending you are the lime
and I the soil out of balance
ridiculous thoughts
of preservation,
knowing I will be there alone
in the cemetery
when the earth is opened,
could bury anything
in the sealed urn,
wondering how many
have
pound of sugar,
my favorite pancake recipe,
flour pondering where the liquid went;
a quart of potting soil
with a couple of Tree of Heaven seeds,
a tablespoon of spit;
an itty bitty reading light
with a mini book 3 inches wide
wrapped in bubble wrap,
one of Wodehouse's golf stories
that made Dad roar with laughter
I still need you close to me
even if only on a shelf
07/19/2015 Posted on 07/20/2015
Copyright © 2024 Kristina Woodhill
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Colleen Sperry on 07/20/15 at 06:05 PM I found this to be so creative .. Love what you did with this! thank you for sharing it here! |
| Posted by Chris Sorrenti on 07/21/15 at 04:28 PM I like what you've done here too Kristina. I chose not to take either of my parents' urns, preferring to remember them the way they were. We have a family plot though, and the majority of their ashes were buried there. Good job as always! |
| Posted by Laura Doom on 07/25/15 at 11:12 PM Reading this helps me imagine how it is to feel this way about family--intimate, facetious, compassionate.
[I expect I will eventually be cremated, though it's possible I'll be burnt at the stake... |
| Posted by Richard Vince on 04/12/20 at 09:05 PM ouch. i didn't realise quite what a punch this packed until the end. seriously moving. also "pound of sugar, my favorite pancake recipe, flour pondering where the liquid went" is sheer genius. |
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