Earth to Earth
how deep below is that earth to earth
how far down to go for peace
while our small group awkwardly gathers
like disjointed clumps around the crumbling statue of an aging angel
while the old man in black talks into an old book in his hands
while I describe how she’d made fairy tales out of her nightmares
while a middle-aged lady relates a prank they had pulled as kids
the hole stays covered up with a square piece of canvas as if for a surprise
but then the man in black intones a few more verses and turns to me
pointing to the canvas and the heavy earthenware container by me
I snatch away the cover and grab the container of ashes
it’s only then that the hole turns out to be much deeper than I’d expected
I have to go down on my knees and finally even on my elbows in my dark suit
in order to lower the container without dropping it
the hole keeps pulling me down not only the container
but then the container touches bottom and my hands are free of their burden
free to prop me up and let me scramble to my feet
free of the burden but weighed down more heavily by its absence
the traffic noise downhill resumes its life but it’s no longer my life that goes on
without the life of the one we talk about
while we stumble back to the cars
the sunshine doesn’t even flicker as I brush the dirt off my knees
you and I had gotten so much dirt above ground I say softly to the urn in the hole
we should be used to it
but she was so good at remembering sunshine and turned even dirt into a smile
like I turn it into tears and stabs of memories no urn can hold
how can the sky be so bright blue on a day like this and the gravestones so gray
if she gets one let it be hazel the color of her eyes
About the poet:
Paul Sohar earned a BA in philosophy and took a day job in a lab while writing and publishing in every genre. His own poetry: “Homing Poems” (Iniquity, 2006) and “The Wayward Orchard”, a Wordrunner Prize winner (2011). Latest translation volumes: “Silver Pirouettes” (TheWriteDeal 2012) and “In Contemporary Tense” (Iniquity Press, 2013). Magazine credits: Agni, Gargoyle, Osiris, Rattle, etc. He is a frequent contributor to Ragazine.CC, and is one of the We Are You Project poets.
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