Neon Literary Magazine #36

  *

   

  Scattering The Ashes

   

  For Brian.

   

  This view is the place

  you chose to imbue (for us)

  with final memories.

  The purple underside

  of the leaves

  of an unfamiliar tree

  blow like gaudy

  blossoms in the breeze.

  Did they strike you

  as they strike us now?

  Inside the box the paper bag

  is stapled with a card

  bearing your name,

  and underneath

  the undertaker's details.

  The landscape is a painting,

  the summer evening perfect.

  And death so hard to comprehend

  when I can imagine you,

  so clearly, almost speaking.