Girl Scout Roundup
By Bruce Parker
When your coffin is the air,
when all that’s left of you
five pounds of ash
emptied into a church wall,
all creation comes to your funeral,
crows, ponderosas,
sunshine, elk in a high meadow.
Creation comes in green Scout uniforms,
sings French songs,
forms a ring around you
and tells us your stories.
As camp is broken water is splashed on still-glowing coals—
they hiss until not a wisp of smoke rises
and the ashes are cold.
Bruce Parker has published three chapbooks, Ramadan in Summer (Finishing Line Press, 2022), Tears for Things (Plan B Press, 2024), and Marriage: A History (Finishing Line Press, 2026). He holds a BA in history from the University of Maryland, Far East Division, Okinawa, Japan; and an MA in secondary education from the University of New Mexico. His work appears in Triggerfish Critical Review, Wild Roof, Cerasus, The Brussels Review, Prairie Schooner and elsewhere. His poem in Connecticut River Review was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He lives in Portland, Oregon.