Portrait of a funeral arrangement
for Denise
Dark stars pierce the luminous heart
a shrouded mouth fallen open,
a delicate central cross.
Daubs of captured sunlight
loll among the upright
congregated throng.
Burdened others cast out
and down; a huddled cluster
bows off to one side.
Each with green wings
flung upwards-as if
in silent supplication.
Swanlike, cheek to cheek,
a pair intertwine at the neck -
tied for the span of their brief life.
Your spray of luminous hearted kindness
to pierce the dark star
of our grief.
Poem from the book "the light we cannot see" by Anne Casey
from Salmon Poetry 40
A Fevers of the Mind Quick-9 Interview with Anne Casey
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Fevers of the Mind 