six feet by Josephine LoRe

police tape on the stairs of slides on swings
a cortege of army trucks
each filled with the dead

bodies in black bags
no bedside deaths no funerals
no gatherings no weddings

no Sunday dinners with grandma and grandpa
no hugs

six feet is the minimum distance
feeling buried standing up

outside flickers magpies squirrels
hares turning slowly brown
ice melting
days lengthening

and the only music that fits
is the dirge
and at the playground police tape
empty slides empty swings

a pearl in this diamond world Josephine LoRe is an internationally published, prize-winning covid-bound poet whose work can be found in numerous literary journals and anthologies. She has two collections, Unity and The Cowichan Series and features frequently at live and virtual literary events. She has twice been Poet in the Prow and is working on a collection based on her Sicilian heritage. Josephine has an MA in Comparative Literature from l’Université de Rouen and a BA in Modern Languages and Literature from the University of Toronto. https://www.josephinelorepoet.com/

1 Comment

  1. Wow! Would love to read the poetry on Sicily!
    Your sister was in my grade!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *