aloneness

*Honorable Mention in the Lafayette College H. Macknight Black Poetry Competition

Click here for the Lafayette College press release on this recognition.

aloneness

we did laundry

the day that you left,

a green nightgown

lying on the table

folding his white shirts

and handkerchiefs creased

into perfect triangles

it poured that evening

while we ate baked ziti

and talked about you,

cheese dripping from our lips

a brief moment of normalcy

while the sky opened up

to cry for us

we did laundry

the evening that you left,

struggling to find his keys

he almost fell over

toppling out of the desk chair

he frantically moved

to call the funeral home,

they had gotten your name wrong.

it poured that evening

when we said goodbye,

our grief filled the hospital walls

little rivers flowing into an ocean

where you went swimming together

off the coast of Italy -

in a small boat

you sailed the world together

an adventure of a lifetime

where you now float silently

away from one another

we did laundry

and stared at the green nightgown,

lost without a body to cover.

but what do you do with things

once they are just things

and no longer someone’s?

it poured that evening,

so we put it back in the drawer

where you kept your socks,

fingers closing the door gently

while we watched him struggle

against the weight of aloneness