Sport 34: Winter 2006
My Dead Surround Me
My Dead Surround Me
they stand shoulder
to white draped shoulder
faces laced with
the sweat of their struggle
lids my fingers have lowered
and eyes I have not touched
all closely watching
they stand in ranks around me
they do not speak
speech has ceased
with their blood beat
my ears have heard
their hearts' silence
my pen has ended their record
certified dead
vital signs absent
no mourning fills my mind
we stand there, smiling
no rictus, this
our smiles rise lightly
above the gravity
now they are
walking forward
gliding quietly
over the ground
and I am touched
by a soft shroud
worn and warm
like my mother
and still they move
until I am surrounded
by a caul
of my dead, smiling