It's raining.
I hoped it wouldn't.
The sun came out for a
few minutes
as we placed her in the
earth. It's quiet
without her. Even the thunder
can't speak.
She died last night beneath
my fingers.
The transfusion was not
enough. Atropine
was impotent, like me, standing
there
beneath the blue-ish haze
of fluorescents.
I'm glad it came on so
fast. She didn't have time
to suffer. We'll do that
for her. After she left,
we stood beside her, fingers
wrapped in her
still-warm fur, that mix
of autumn leaves.
She came home in a tiny,
corrugated
cardboard box. It was heavy.
How can
10 pounds feel like 50?
All of it is lead
in my chest. Now her box
is under the dirt
we churned. I want to lay
over it, keep
the rain off her, wait for
one more purr.
for Emms (1987 - 2003)
twelve
months of haiku
January
Two months, you’ve
been gone.
I can’t put away your
clothes--
it is too cold now.
February
I sleep like a cat--
I have not washed my hair
or
done the laundry yet.
March
I am a sparrow--
your reflection in windows,
banging into glass.
April
Green things poke through
soil--
a blanket to warm your grave.
I am cold- so cold.
May
The birds annoy me.
They sing as if you were
here.
I close the windows.
June
Your blanket is thick--
mine is pulled over my head,
despite the noon heat.
July
You explode in stars--
bits of paper with your
name
blaze their way to ground.
August
The grass you watered
fades now beneath a hot
star;
tear-stained; brown like
sand.
September
I found you beneath
raked leaves and a dry-eyed
sky.
The colors are gone.
October
You were sick, this time
last year-- begging for
an end.
You knew I’d listen.
November
Your grave is flat now.
There is green moss on your
stone.
Your head rests gently.
December
I folded your shirt--
your scent clings to the
walls here.
I can’t put it down.
About
the Author
C. E. Laine's work has appeared
in many publications, including
Poems Niederngasse, New
World Poetry, Free Zone
Quarterly, Poetry Super
Highway, Countless Horizons,
The White Shoe Irregular,
Bay Review Liberal Arts
Journal, Friction Magazine,
2River View, Kota Press,
Absinthe, Stirring (writing
as Kit Sullivan), The White
Shoe Irregular, Clean Sheets,
Erosha, Beauty for Ashes,
Ludlow Press, Melic Review,
The Adirondack Review and
Pierian Springs. She has
written two books of poetry:
"allegory" (ISBN:
0-595-22462-8) and "The
Weight of Dust" (ISBN:
0-595-26943-5). They are
available at celaine.com
. She is a writer and a
student pilot. She divides
her time between writing
and flying old airplanes.
She avoids the mundane whenever
possible, with the exception
of making lists. She is
a student pilot, a realtor,
and a web designer when
she isn't writing. In the
past, she's been magician's
assistant, a baker, an extra
in a few movies, a licensed
artist in New Orleans' French
Quarter, and a soldier in
this girl's U. S. Army.
She lives in a creaking
old Virginia home, conveniently
ruled by seven cats. She
enjoys making lists on sticky
notes when she isn't writing
poems.
www.Celaine.com
~ Contemporary, minimalist
poetry
(Visit my writing/poetry
workshop - This So Called
Life)
www.VLQpoetry.com
~ VLQ: a literary journal
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