She has haunted my sleep for long enough, I fear- My nightmares of ghost ships break the still night air Too swiftly, too fiercely- the wound still stings. In the night my heels and toes wander listlessly to the graves Of those others have perhaps forgotten. I have not forgotten. Fairview cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The blank faced child, whom no one claims, I fear has entered the end of life without the warmth Of a motherβs embrace. I would hold them. I would love them. The graves climb the hill like cinderblocks, one pushing the other Up towards some heaven Some beautiful blue sky where their souls must lay And though the trees are bare and the sky feels cold The silence calms me; here, they feel no water. No collapsing Floor.
One hundred and twenty one ladies and men and children Will rest here forever. Among the graves I lay down my funeral bouquet, Along with my ghost ship nightmares- The worldβs pain, and mistakes, and visions of a darker day May perhaps one day rest here too And float up towards some heaven, Some paradise.