Saturday, January 27, 2007


DESCANSO

The stuff of poetry is here
by the side of the road
near the top of the hill:

I love you, Dad. Roney.
We miss you.

Altogether not much to show
what his life was all about.
A bicycle wheel, five American flags,
christmas tree stand, plastic tree,
jade plant in a bucket,
empty champagne bottle,
pot of bamboo,
a cross and some rocks.
1-1-56 to 5-22-04.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

When my first wife died in a car accident, I left several of the many flower arrangements I receieved by the roadside. A year later I left a store-bought bouquet there. After that, I never wanted to visit that spot again. I'd much rather keep the good memories, rather than seeing the site of her tragic departure. No need to constantly keep up a memorial on a depressing, deadly curve.

Jerral Miles said...

The people in Mexico call these roadside shrines descanso for rest...perhaps such shrines give some kind of rest to people who have experienced the great loss...for awhile... but I like your comment, "No need to constantly keep up a memorial on a depressing, deadly curve." You obviously know the road to healing is not to keep going back to a shrine in a deadly place. Thanks for the comment.
Jerral