Saturday, February 6, 2016

Nahshon Cook

Her Burial

it’d been decided
her final resting place
would be next to
our great grandmother
and was prepared
with a cement vault
that lay waiting patiently
to receive her
beautifully held body
eight of us carried her
from the hearse
to a forest green hilltop tent
stretched out over
a skirted stainless-steel rectangle 
perfectly picture-framing
the heavy-heartedness
she was slowly lowered into
once we’d all said
our final goodbyes
my father and I
stayed to watch
the undertaker supervise
his gravediggers
in covering her casket
first with the vault’s lid
then a dump truck bed
full of wet heavy earth
he shook hands with us both
and apologized
for our unfortunate loss
before explaining
how they’d allow the dirt
to settle during winter
then cover her plot
with sod in spring

* * *
Nahshon Cook is a poet from Denver, Colorado. His poems have appeared in publications including Nepantla, Rhino, and Split This Rock. His most recent collection, The Killing Fields and Other Poems, was published in March 2015 by Shabda Press. His next collection, Communion, will be published in 2017 by Shabda Press.   


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