16

Inevitability

I can move on,
except

When the children are unkind to each other
Not seeing their brief time together
Not seeking shelter from the harm outside,
except

When I walk in the garden and see his plants
And think of how he loved to see them flourish
And how he walked in the evening among the flowers
except

When everything shifts
And he no longer exists quietly,
Looking the same each day

But has slid into the darkness.


Lari Smith