Three Days Late
I wonder if a coffin
And a funeral service
Will make any of it seem real,
If it will make anyone remember.
How can it when they found you
Three days too late and
The only memories I have of you
Are from when I was seven,
Dancing pirouettes in the clouds
Of your cigarette smoke?
After great grandma left
They took away your leg
And put you in a home.
No one ever went to visit,
But when you started to
Lose your vision,
We all talked about it a lot
And said we would pray.
Why did I talk to God,
Instead of you?
I wonder if you
Talked to God too.
And I think about all the bags
Of whole wheat pasta
You sent mom because
You always said the government
Gave you too many food stamps.
I never thanked you for the pasta,
But I still have a few bags
In the pantry of my college house.
And a funeral service
Will make any of it seem real,
If it will make anyone remember.
How can it when they found you
Three days too late and
The only memories I have of you
Are from when I was seven,
Dancing pirouettes in the clouds
Of your cigarette smoke?
After great grandma left
They took away your leg
And put you in a home.
No one ever went to visit,
But when you started to
Lose your vision,
We all talked about it a lot
And said we would pray.
Why did I talk to God,
Instead of you?
I wonder if you
Talked to God too.
And I think about all the bags
Of whole wheat pasta
You sent mom because
You always said the government
Gave you too many food stamps.
I never thanked you for the pasta,
But I still have a few bags
In the pantry of my college house.