With a Start

First published in Ribbons 17:2, spring/summer 2021, page 87. Also included in my “Seaweed in the Sand” trifold of March 2022. Originally written in 2013 and 2014.

on the porch

out of earshot

we talk of dad’s dying

how I will give the eulogy—

till he rises and shuffles near

frost overnight—

this morning’s headlines

don’t say

that my dad

has died

I wake up

with a start

this winter morning

wondering if my dad

was buried wearing shoes