Benediction
(this poem is currently in competition)

Driving home we talked about the way
we set the radio at the same levels
and love Jones�s cream soda
and how I know good Catholics
and you know good Protestants.

Somehow I mentioned my brother
and you said "Oh I didn�t know"
and so I told you the childhood story
feeling abnormal as always
about the funeral and such.

Growing up my family talked about heaven
and we would celebrate his birthday
by sending balloons into the sky
and cringing when a friend would announce
"I am having a tonsillectomy soon."

I like that you asked me these things
and that I could talk like I was normal:
like everyone had contemplated death
when they were eight and like
everyone�s Easters and Christmases were
attended by that still
orange flame in that
small blue candle to
remind us that we are
marked and surviving.

copyright 2001 by devon