She sat
flat on the grass, her legs
out schoolgirl-straight
though she was eighty if a day.
Like a solemn girl
at play, she
plucked flowers
from a pile
and shot them
like darts
into a vase
beside her husband’s grave.
She muttered to herself,
frowning,
no longer
clear of mind.
Her old, known
life
tight
in the ground.
Her new, strange
life
loosening
away.
Mark Belair’s poems have appeared in numerous journals, including Alabama Literary Review, Euphony Journal, Harvard Review, and Michigan Quarterly Review. Author of seven collections of poems, his most recent book is Stonehaven, a work of fiction (Turning Point Books, 2020). He has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize multiple times, as well as for a Best of the Net Award. Please visit www.markbelair.com