Gravestone

There are no birthdays on this gravestone

I only come here on your birthdays

There are three names, that share a surname
Mine
On a shiny black slab that covers
Three tubs of dust, with room for one more
Mine, too
If I want it

And three dates of ending, of leaving
But none of arrival
Just three ages – 44, 78, 80
Numbers that might be an achievement
Numbers that might be a failure

And three generic statements
About what nice people you were
Caring mother, devoted father, loving sister

Nothing about your dreams,
Your violence and tenderness
Nothing about the drawings you threw away
The doors you fitted
The blankets you crocheted
Nothing about what broke you and raised you to glorious tears

There’s no space left, on this shiny black slab
For a fourth name,
A fourth death date, a fourth age
A fourth ordinary platitude

And I think that, maybe
I don’t really mind.

 

5th June 2025

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