Planted

When the deathiversary

rolls around each year,

we can hardly believe

it’s here again.

Wasn’t it the day before yesterday

when our hearts were still beating

and normal was something

we thought could last?

It seems like yesterday

the casket was lowered

into the earth or the ashes

were scattered by the wind;

We knew a huge chunk

of who we were 
was dead now, too.

The dirt was like a weight

on our chests, pressing, squeezing.

  We could never imagine that

  our burying was also a planting;

  that the love being sunk and scattered

  could somehow ever break through

  the sod with a shoot, a bloom,

  and perhaps flower or fruit;

    but sometimes it does,

    in ways and places we

    never could have imagined.

You have surrounded us

with the love of those

who can and do sing

the songs of faith for us,

reciting the creeds,

believing on our behalf, 
for a while, until 
we can breathe again.

© 2016 Todd Jenkins