Sitting With the Dead

Sitting with the Dead

I love sitting with the dead as I think about life
The Johnsons, Olsons, Andersons, Edneys, Yaegars
Their stories told by the company they keep

The Olson brothers went off to war in Germany
Both lived long lives

The Johnson’s lost two children
Both before the age of three
Two others grew up to marry and have children of their own

Young John Schmidt loved to fish
He waits for his parents
Their stones wait for a date

Poor Old Earl Fisher has no company to keep

The birds sing and the squirrels play and gather
The shadows are growing
Soon it will be dark

I think my friends who live here would tell me to live with gratitude and wonder
Remove the 1000 veils I have taken on over the years
Their weight and matted stench do me no good
They neither protect nor hide me

Take them off with forgiveness
So I can see without filter
And breathe without effort
So that I can be free

• Poem