Overboard
Na Mee
Before the wake there were flowers
before the flowers your heart broke before
your heart broke your grandson took
his first step and before the step there was a
rope and the rope was three hundred paddles
long we tied a room to it and we threw it
overboard the room sunk to the ocean
floor and a crab walked into it but before the
crab walked into it you stuffed
small pieces of a ghost
into the bait can hold this
you said the boat a cradle rocking
the rope in our hands the room in our hands
the ghost in the water
it comes in waves
we traded one life for
another and another
and
Time
and
Grief
are stepsisters: a circumstance
not a friendship my own
Grief and my own Time they hated
each other’s guts from the get go Grief
would stick a finger in Time’s eye and
Time would jump
sometimes a few inches back and
sometimes a few months
forward Time would borrow
Grief’s clothes without
asking she would stain them and she
would never say
sorry I
made them bake a cake with me
the cake tasted like dirt it tasted like dirt
because we made it with our hands and we
ourselves were all buried this
was the
only way
we got
along
Grief didn’t knock she just let herself in
she was so rude! stayed for days months
said very little but she was always in the way
sleeping on the floor sobbing in the sink
she cut all the leaves off my plants found
the good sharpies practiced her signature on
the wall for hours she super glued objects
together spoons to other spoons my tongue
to my teeth this was before I knew
how to take care of her
one night I stumbled out
of bed the smoke alarm was
wailing Grief
was trying
to make soup
she chopped her left fingers mistaking
them for roots she sat her bare ass on the
stove her body a pot her blood close
to boiling she flinched maybe
she bit into a head
of garlic like an apple please I begged
cupping the garlic I held her hand
pulling her towards a chair the chairs
were glued to the table
I fetched a blanket Just
sit down for a second I said hugging
her shoulders as she collapsed I peeled
the cloves I lowered the heat I
added water I’m still stirring