"Ceremony in lieu of a Funeral" by Kimberly L. Becker
Lies you say to soothe the dying:
I forgive you
it doesn’t matter
I love you, too
territories of the self-ceded in treaty after broken treaty
handshake when all along the other hand conceals the weapon
Ceremony helps you remember
Ceremony helps you release
what we could not be to each other in life we let go of in death
what we could not say to each other in life we let go of in death
Prayers ascend with smoke
You keep picking through the alphabet for words to say goodbye
for words to bless the ICU and oxygen tube
the way his mouth opened like a bird when you moistened it with swabs
the softness of his hands you’d never held except as child
All the years lost
Circling this way you remember
circling that way you release
Water asks you to let its current carry what you can’t
asks you to let the lies become the truths you couldn’t tell in life
I forgive you
it doesn’t matter
I love you, too
territories of the self-ceded in treaty after broken treaty
handshake when all along the other hand conceals the weapon
Ceremony helps you remember
Ceremony helps you release
what we could not be to each other in life we let go of in death
what we could not say to each other in life we let go of in death
Prayers ascend with smoke
You keep picking through the alphabet for words to say goodbye
for words to bless the ICU and oxygen tube
the way his mouth opened like a bird when you moistened it with swabs
the softness of his hands you’d never held except as child
All the years lost
Circling this way you remember
circling that way you release
Water asks you to let its current carry what you can’t
asks you to let the lies become the truths you couldn’t tell in life
Kimberly L. Becker is author of Words Facing East and The Dividings (WordTech Editions) as well as numerous journal and anthology publications such as Drunken Boat (Native American Women’s Poetry folio), Indigenous Message on Water (Indigenous World Forum on Water and Peace), Women Write Resistance: Poets Resist Gender Violence (Hyacinth Girl Press), Tending the Fire: Native Voices and Portraits (University of New Mexico Press) and Bared (Les Femmes Folles Books). She has served as a mentor for PEN America's Prison Writing Program and for AWP's Writer to Writer program. Visit her at www.kimberlylbecker.com
Thomas Gillaspy is a northern California photographer. His photography has been featured in numerous magazines including the literary journals: Compose, Portland Review and Brooklyn Review. Further information and additional examples of his work are available at: http://www.thomasgillaspy.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasmichaelart/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasmichaelart/