I do not go to graveyards
By Gloria g. Murray
to plant flowers on the graves
of the dead
touch the etched letters
on the heads of tombstones
and weep
of the dead
touch the etched letters
on the heads of tombstones
and weep
I live with the dead
have tea with them each morning
ask if they remember when
I held their flesh
and they mine
when we kissed and laughed
and even the dog
when he licked
my face with
his pink lizard tongue
I do not look to God
to make sense of it
not a swimmer
I drown in senselessness
I do not look to time
to ease the pain
time does not heal all wounds
I do not hope to meet them
in heaven or in hell
I am certain
this earth is of both
I let them share my bed at night
slip like the moon
into my dreams
I feed them all the life I have
that in so doing
I might starve their death
Gloria g. Murray’s poetry and prose have appeared in journals including The Paterson Review, Poet Lore, Bardic Echoes, Third Wednesday, The Ledge, The Literary Quarterly and others. She is a member of Poets & Writers, Inc. and the winner of the 2014 first prize Anna Davidson Rosenberg award from Poetica Magazine as well as the third prize recipient of the 2017 Writer’s Digest poetry contest. Her one-act play was published in The Art of the One-Act Anthology, New Issues and presented off-Broadway. She is the author of three poetry books.