Auntie rarely talks about
– Poetry by Kimberly Peterson –
tremors that smashed her
like dishes shaken off shelves
when
she saw the police cruiser
drive slowly up the lane,
her son not home for milking
the seismic shift
that crumbled her
when
Uncle said he identified Bobby’s
body by his school ring, automobile rubble
robbing her last chance to brush
fingers through his hair, kiss his cheek
the numbing aftershocks
as four farm families
buried sons in closed caskets,
Bobby the driver, left
of the white line
after an evening
drinking at the Villa Nova
today she mentions
a tiny vibration
she almost missed
looking out the kitchen window,
hands sloshing in soapy water,
remembering that damn dog,
Bobby chasing her
out of the cornfield,
when
for the first time
in a decade
she smiled.
About the Author – Kimberly Peterson
Kimberly Peterson’s experience as a nurse working with chronically ill and palliative patients informs the grief, loss, resilience, and joy of daily life she explores in the manuscript of poetry she’s working on. She has publications forthcoming in Prairie Fire, Event Magazine, Passager, Qwerty, Lit Mag Love Anthology, and The Banister. Read more of her work on kimberlypeterson.ca
Did you like this poem by Kimberly Peterson? Then you might also like:
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The Body as Poem
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Where Courage Lives
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Modern Medical Miracles
What the Mirror Says
Writing Myself Alive: An Episodic Poem
Breathing; Love These Lively Things
Oh Emma; Slow Dancing
In the Mirror, For My Mother
Zenstronomy: Zen of Instruction, Godma, Astrophysical Reality
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