one two three
a loop in my head
i count my steps
to the grave
one two three
breaths in a row
faltering
atlas under a globe of grief
one two three
the mortician mutters
hitting the lever
a box in descent
one two three
relatives
trail off
weaving through the stones
one
matriarch in shambles
a perfect pietá
lingering by the hollow
two
a couple broken
separated
by the greatest door
three*
wails punctuate her sentence
goodbye bill
I’ll always love you
a play on a common abbreviation of 'i love you,' and my anxious tic of counting
a sixty year marriage ended by leukemia
and the strongest woman i've ever met in shambles