by Laura Foley

what the dead miss


 

This morning I think I see, in the light
dimpling the river’s emerald green
beneath me, the faces of my dead husband,
parents and younger sister,
feel their fingers in the fresh breeze
on my cheeks, as I breathe the diesel smell
of passing trucks, reminding me
of my need to refuel. As I hold the nozzle
in place, I watch clouds scurry
and reform, like traveling crowds.
I hear music in the liquid trickling,
filling my tank to the brim
and in my steady footsteps,
tapping percussion on pavement,
the car door closing with a click.
They say that’s what the dead miss most,
an ordinary day, spent like this.

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Laura Foley is author of six collections, including WTF and Night Ringing. “Gratitude List” won the Common Good Books contest, read on The Writer’s Almanac. “Nine Ways of Looking at Light” won the Gouveia Contest, judged by Marge Piercy. A hospice volunteer, she lives with her wife and two dogs among Vermont hills.