At the Burial

At the burial

The long drive and the street is dark

The sky is a backdrop

Of rain

But you won’t feel a drop

Not the moisture

In the grass

Not the salt on your cheek

Only the chore

Of preparation

Only the position

And the box and the place and time

Wills to attest

And papers to sign

Down the long green mile

Of grass so green

Its sickening

I watched blackbirds

Filling in the blanks of the sky

Forming forests and trees

In peripheral eyes

The cold grey day

The green felt gives way

To a hole that no one can ever fill

Only with earth that will cover our cries

Forever stain our frightened minds

Fill the depression

That nothing will……