A poem about grief, or my daughter, or my body, or any number of things

What am I going to do with you?

 

I have found no box to put you in.

No container that would house your unwieldiness.

 

What am I going to do with you?          With the best parts of

 

me I’ve peeled off, like a hangnail, and wrapped you up in?

With the weight and the shame and the cross-referencing

 

of grief, ecstasy and abandon?          I think it would be wrong

 

to bury you. Perhaps I’ll cover you in flowers, and fine lines,

 

aeroplanes, and other, ephemeral things.

 

What am I going to do with you?          Weave you into

 

some great tapestry. Coax you into hiding with a stick, or out,

 

with some great, sugary reward.          What is one to do with you, with all of you?

 

With the whole, almighty lot of you.

I am ill-equipped. I have no formal training.

My sails are depleted. The stars are all crouching behind the clouds.

 

What am I going to do with you?

 

A poem. A petticoat. Sticks. A hole in the ground.


Also by Elizabeth M. Castillo

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