Urn
in suspension
My daughter shaped the urn
holding her mother’s remains,
on the mantlepiece with
more mundane receptacles,
knick-knacks, family pictures,
pawprint of a beloved cat.
A crow’s black silhouette
presides from upper ledge,
leaning over, beak gaping,
echoing nevermores beyond
time, beyond space, beyond
reach of yearning souls.
The room is dim and calm.
Outside is sunlit, green.
A river meanders seaward,
also beyond time or reach
of eternal questioning.
Will answers ever come?
~ Roy
June 2025
Previously published in the magazine Scrittura, on the writers’ platform Medium.
Very soft, warm, touchiing.I didn't know Martha, but your warm heart and the images that move you move me; thank you for sharing, Roy.
Pat
.... I can feel it.
On many occasions when asked about burying a child or other loved one...when there is no practical place where family or friends can go to spend time and reflect... especially in these temporary days when like nomads we wander from job to job... town to town... away from family... if there IS family. Where the only Jewish cemetery is miles and miles away.... and no one will visit to place a pebble on the headstone saying... I WAS HERE...I haven't forgotten... In those situations I say....cremation. I'm met with a surprised look.. "I didn't think Jews Did that!" Maybe in another day and age, I say.... but since the Holocaust, and 9-ll , I tell people, "If God needs the body intact, then God will make a miracle. If the ashes of the Holocaust need to be bone and flesh again, God will take care of it. But iif YOU need to hold on to your loved one, if you need to travel far and doubt you will ever return, then make peace in your own time, in your own way. So many have lost children to drugs.... and the parents are not ready to let go of the question "WHY?" If it gives one peace of mind to take a Ziplock of ashes to the top of the mountain or the edge of the sea, and have a long hoped for moment of reconciliation, I think it is okay with whichever deity you revere. So a hand made urn is a good stop on the journey. Roz