| *loolaville _poetry | |||||
| II. The funeral was open casket, and this would terrify me greatly because my mother could hardly explain why Noni looked so different. She lay stiff and cold despite the efforts of the funeral home to apply rosy cheeks. What puzzled me greatly was her mouth, which was explained to me to be stitched together because how could she smile with her lips sewn shut? What if she sees grandpa, or God, and cannot smile? I wondered, once we sealed Noni into the ground, would she shoot up toward heaven like a rocket in the sky? At church we saw a film where a lady was buried and then she just shot clear up into the sky as fast as a jet plane. I didn't really want Noni to launch off so quickly and so far away like that, because I looked forward to lying on the grass above her grave, twirling flowers, telling her I learned a new song on the piano. |
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