Painting by Elaine Brown Folgar
I Walk the Fairview Cemetery
think about living through my death
date each year. Ask the old names:Hiram, Moses,
Chauncey,
Garton, Harriet,
Gertrude, Elvina, Flora.When you lived, did you feel
a shifting of sand particles,
a splintering, on that date?How did you live in your bones
on the farm, in the factory, making
barrels, babies, money, dinner?Did you play piano, dance, sing
in a choir, write poetry,
could you read?Did you knit sweaters and mittens,
chop wood, hit a home run, bake the best
blue ribbon county fair pies?Did you believe in Jesus, the holy spirit,
consult a Ouija board, host seances, rock
to sleep in your favorite chair?Did you hear my voice read your death dates
inscribed in stone and time parentheses?
