April 2022
Bio Note: I am a former elementary school librarian who was intrigued by almost every book I put on my shelves. As a reader and as a writer, I don’t restrict myself to one genre. I’ve had two poetry books come out during the pandemic. One for adults, Manna in the Morning (Kelsay Books, 2021) and one for young readers, Tag Your Dreams: Poems of Play and Persistence (Albert Whitman, 2020).
Not So Close to the Cemetery
In the first years after,
I was glad we lived so close
to the cemetery. I could visit
before a trip to the grocery
or after the dentist.
It was comfortable to come by
and read your name in bronze.
Imagine you happy
in a fresh existence, free from
the cruel pain of your last two years.
Sometimes, I felt your presence
in the clouds, watching me fuss
over your grave, yanking errant weeds.
And I wondered if you approved. Or if you thought
I should be doing something else, like signing the papers
on a new house. By the water. Three hundred miles away.
Which I did just yesterday. Soon,
I won’t be living so close to the cemetery.
A choice I think would please you.
May Their Memory Be a Blessing
The words we use to honor the dead
and comfort the living.
May their memory be a blessing.
When you recall the way she laughed,
like a bell rolling down the stairs.
Or the time he shared his umbrella
with that soaked teenager at the stadium.
When she brought chicken soup to your door.
That he loved pistachio ice cream.
May their memory be a blessing.
A kiss on the forehead,
bestowed as benediction,
carrying you beyond grief
to embrace the love
death cannot bury.
©2022 Jacqueline Jules
Editor's Note: If this poem(s) moves you please consider writing to the author (email address above) to say what it is about the poem you like. Writing to the author is what builds the community at Verse Virtual. It is very important. -JL