just say my subject is grief

it comes as a strike
leaves stricken
like an aircraft

afflicted
as Jupiter is
in opposition to Mars

these examples may lead to landing

on the floor
a puddle I try to reconstruct
from willed emotions

don’t bother says speech

it’s only worry the thing is done
I get along without
the provision of what is unnecessary

prayer all along
hoisting bodies to sky
as they were inhumed

I can keep this up

as long
as death
a book

unreadable from this distance

go try anyway
the rain heaves
something is not shut

the library downstairs only goes to S

From Hereafter (The Song Cave, 2024) by Alan Felsenthal. Copyright © 2024 by Alan Felsenthal. Used with the permission of the publisher.