How long must I sit on your grave
to elicit a visitation? Must I fast?
Must I meditate on the vastness
of the universe of death? Must
I count my own? Must I arrive
at midnight to pull your ashes
back to some semblance of you?
If I wake, if I sleep, will you come
to me, shambling, silent, silhouetted
against the summer moon? Will you
speak? I closed your eyes with my own
hand. I sat at your side and waited.
Now I sit on your grave, and wait.
I wrap myself against the night,
I sit on the cold ground, where you
are not. And wait.
Some Rights Reserved
LOL! Brilliant! You took about the same turn I did!! :) Great writing, and a wonderful read. Very flowing.
Posted by: Bobbie | 30 July 2009 at 01:15 AM
I really enjoyed this. I like the way you cultivate the insistence of the initial questions.
Posted by: Nathan | 30 July 2009 at 04:57 AM
I enjoyed this very much, particularly the second stanza. A simple longing.
Posted by: Derrick | 30 July 2009 at 06:40 AM
I like the longing here..
Marvellous!
don't forget to get my cigars
Posted by: gautami tripathy | 30 July 2009 at 07:21 AM
Touching and moving and something I can identify with.
Posted by: Mark | 30 July 2009 at 08:12 AM
Waiting and questioning. I love the notion of the speaker coming at midnight to rebuild the deceased from his ashes. There's a desperation in grief that you describe well with that line.
Posted by: James | 30 July 2009 at 08:54 AM
"I sit on the cold ground, where you
are not. And wait."
Great closing lines!
Posted by: Claire HM | 30 July 2009 at 12:13 PM
Ah, if only we had the answers. Grief takes a long time to turn to ash. Wonderful piece!
Posted by: Tumblewords | 30 July 2009 at 03:37 PM
This is perfection, Sharon. Love the way it flows and, for me, speaks to the yearning of some sign from the departed love one.
Posted by: niki | 30 July 2009 at 05:32 PM
Well. This one seems to work. The photo did pull a bit.
Posted by: sbpoet | 30 July 2009 at 05:55 PM
It's a long wait and the questions never go away.
Posted by: stan | 30 July 2009 at 06:55 PM
True, that.
Posted by: sbpoet | 30 July 2009 at 07:46 PM
Enjoyable read.
Posted by: irene | 30 July 2009 at 07:55 PM
I love the image of pulling together the ashes into a semblance of the "you". Gorgeous work!
Posted by: Jessica | 31 July 2009 at 03:01 PM