When the Grandmother Dies
it'll be kept secret
from her four daughters
who'll be flying in
from three different countries
after years of absence
reunion ends
When the grandmother dies
it'll ruin summertime
for the grandkids who
in their mothers' grief will eat
okra each day
fresh & leftover
till it tastes like ash
When the grandmother dies
the groundskeeper will beg for cash
he comforts her he'll say
& the sisters
will reply
Were it not for you
the dead would have died
Copyright © 2013 by Fady Joudah. Used with permission of the author. This poem appeared in Poem-A-Day on March 8, 2013. Browse the Poem-A-Day archive.