Nahshon Cook

Her Burial

it’d been decided

her final resting place

would be next to

our great grandmother

and was prepared

with a cement vault

that lay waiting patiently

to receive her

beautifully held body

eight of us carried her

from the hearse

to a forest green hilltop tent

stretched out over

a skirted stainless-steel rectangle 

perfectly picture-framing

the heavy-heartedness

she was slowly lowered into

once we’d all said

our final goodbyes

my father and I

stayed to watch

the undertaker supervise

his gravediggers

in covering her casket

first with the vault’s lid

then a dump truck bed

full of wet heavy earth

he shook hands with us both

and apologized

for our unfortunate loss

before explaining

how they’d allow the dirt

to settle during winter

then cover her plot

with sod in spring

* * *

Nahshon Cook is a poet from Denver, Colorado. His poems have appeared in publications including Nepantla, Rhino, and Split This Rock. His most recent collection, The Killing Fields and Other Poems, was published in March 2015 by Shabda Press. His next collection, Communion, will be published in 2017 by Shabda Press.