The Anniversary of a Death
(Letter To The Absent)
12.26.06

Who have you married?
Cold and cruel she must be, to
carry gardenias and holly past our home,
wander through the yard,
sweep these floors with dust.

Did you care so little
for the girl before, though
she colored your cheeks
and swelled your chest?

You’ve strayed so far from home, now,
and our days ebb with distance
but on this day, I remember
while all the world sprints by