Pleased to have three poems on Softblow Poetry Journal today. Here is the first poem and the link.

http://www.softblow.org/

A death in the family 

We hustle it all to the dumpster

couches and chairs

lamps, rugs and bedding,

the knickknacks

that fought

for space 

on every flat surface.

It’s just stuff now

and we’d like to clear the place

in time for lunch

and an early flight home. 

Stories inhabit our belongings

and make them dear.

And you were so good at the telling—

your face softening with delight

as you’d describe a complicated deal 

involving your great uncle Saul,

a second-hand store,

and a horse-drawn cart.

It made the rickety dining room table

seem like a gift from the Romanovs. 

For a minute,

I think of my home

and wonder 

how long it will take the kids

to empty it.

But this is no time for reflection—

the sleep sofa

is heavy and oddly weighted 

and the dumpster seems 

farther away with every load.