Sep 2020
There were round windows
On the doors of the funeral home
And the one in the back
That always swung shut
That’s where they kept
My little sister
Her casket was dull grey
With a complicated mechanism beneath
To wheel her about
Through the door with the round window
Where they kept
My little sister
I did not know
Why we didn’t just bring her home
It seemed so simple
Once she was home
The tears would stop falling
For my little sister
On the doors of the funeral home
And the one in the back
That always swung shut
That’s where they kept
My little sister
Her casket was dull grey
With a complicated mechanism beneath
To wheel her about
Through the door with the round window
Where they kept
My little sister
I did not know
Why we didn’t just bring her home
It seemed so simple
Once she was home
The tears would stop falling
For my little sister
When I was five years old my little sister died of brain cancer. These four poems, “Curls” “My Little Sister “ “Hail Mary” and “Altars” revisit that time through an adult’s words. Thanks for reading....
