At the moment of his death,
all the pain
that had pulverized his body lifted,
woven into a cape of worsted,
roughly knotted wool, furled above me,
alit, and stitched onto my body.
I struggled to stand,
slogged through each day,
every month. Now, two years.
Faith, family, friends have loosened its throttle-hold~
memories ripple through the weave,
freed random threads float abroad,
become bunting for birds’ nests.
Snipped seams expand,
allow in light and air and hope.
When I’m ready, I will gather the last vestiges
of well-worn cape, tuck them into a sachet
with rose petals and golden rings.
Christine McKee loved poetry ever since her mother read poems to her before sending her to afternoon kindergarten. She began writing seriously as a member of the Bursk Poetry Group. McKee was a runner-up in the 2022 Bucks County Poet Laureate competition. Her poetry has been published in a variety of print and online journals locally and across the country. Her book, On Shady Lane, was published in 2015 and is available on Amazon.com.
Poet’s Corner is curated by Bucks County Poet Laureate Emeritus Tom Mallouk and supported by a grant to the Bucks County Herald Foundation made possible by Marv and Dee Ann Woodall.
To submit a poem for consideration, email it to Heraldpoetscorner@gmail.com. If the poem has been previously published, please say where it first appeared.
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