sorry, i lost signal
The gate creaks in the early morning and the late evening, though I’ve never seen it
close
My town's biggest cemetery is home to the remembered, the forgotten, and the lost
The flags ripple in the wind
Four hanging in the sky, stars and stripes a burst of light from the grey poles which they
are strung upon
Little ceramic angels sit and watch
Hundreds of eyes upon eyes upon eyes
Delicate robes adorning their bodies from God himself
The lovely, horrifying angels, resting upon the heads of the lucky ones
Who still have families that recall their names
While they are cleaned and swept for leaves and sprayed for insects,
The fire ants that leave blisters on your skin, and the yellowjackets that swarm the tree
trunks,
Others will rot away
Sinking into the earth, falling farther and farther away from the Heavens
You deserved better, I believe
Better than cracked stone and rising mounds
How long has it been since someone said that name
When it fell from my lips, trailing off into silence, as though it was never there
As though you were never there
The question poses itself from the writings that are hardly visible anymore, that I had to
squint to read
Are you still there?
In the dark night, I feel no fear
As I pass by the towering, grand mausoleums
We talk and laugh, wondering who is there
Wondering who would want to be there
It’s none of us
It’s no one we love
Maybe it's because we can't afford the grand forever home
So, being dirt poor, we settle for dirt
Walk with me to face the people we never knew, hardly knew, and loved with all
our souls
Follow me to where they say their aching souls still linger
Who sat beside me on the bench, tidying the plastic purple flowers
Who stood by me at the fence line, staring into the never-ending holes
Falling, falling, falling.
The children are taught not to walk on graves
For fear or for respect
But you can walk across hers, I told the namesake of our loved one
She wouldn’t mind a bit.
When it rains, it pours
I hope the children aren’t afraid
Perhaps they play with the toys
They were left planes and trains and cars
Pretend animals and roses and photographs
I’ve never seen them gather dust
Dirt, sure
But kids are prone to make a mess.
I listen, eyes closed, ears open
All that’s left is wind
Wind and the dying, forever dying
Can you hear me anymore
Or are you just like the rest of us
All alone in a great dying world?
It’s seen me in the low points
When my heart was hardly beating
And one day it’ll see me
When my breathing is nothing but wind
Though I wasn’t here from the start
There’s no one left that was
Nor will I be here for the end
I still like to think I know quite a lot about the ancient trees and resting folks
I watched them throw dirt on a woman who hadn’t yet turned twenty-five
I’ve seen the fresh soil on a baby girl, her dolls gathering grime before they’re cleaned
by caring hands
I saw them pull away the smooth coffin of a boy forever fifteen
I’ve stared at a man who I never met, who, according to those that had, wasn't the friendly type
For most of you, I raise my eyes towards Heaven
I can offer you nothing but love and respect.
In the early chill of a spring day, are you still there?
In the rain of a January evening, are you still there?
In the dreary afternoon of December, are you still there?
When years pass without a photograph, and people come and go, and houses fall and
rise from the ground
When the pathways change, and the world is despairing, and everyone is so different, myself included
I do not know if any of us are still here.
Sorry, I must’ve lost signal
It happens every time we pull into the gates
The phone must be too much of an anachronism for the old folks
Are you still there?