Visitor
I must remember to say
thank you. Must wipe feet
by the door, close it
behind me. Must not forget
where I came from,
must someday follow
the tamped ashes of ancestors,
travelers all. Must go
the way I came. Innocent
me once more. Hollow
me, body of bone, bamboo,
sunflower stalk. Flute me.
Tune me to the key
of a baby’s delighted squeal.
Remember the songs
I sang to children. Thump of drums
in my chest. How similar the longing
of love and loss. Grief me again
and again. Ecstatic tomatoes split
open on the vine. Tumultuous
tang of homemade pickles.
Honor the sacrificial sting
of a honeybee. Thick, golden-sweet.
Amber me. Mosquito me.
Naked me. Offering of skin
burning bare against my belly.
Euphoric swell crashing ashore.
Must climb trees, braid baskets
from yellow-green willow wands.
Must ride bicycles into the wind.
Dance me. Music me. Pelt me
like overfed raindrops into
malnourished dirt. Vacant lakebeds.
Must not forget what remains
as I slip back into the dark.
Gap me. Elysian Field me.
Must appreciate all of this
when I am gone.
…..
This poem is from the chapbook Skipping Stones on the River Styx by Elizabeth Rae Bullmer (Finishing Line Press) and can be found at https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/skipping-stones-on-the-river-styx-by-elizabeth-rae-bullmer/
Skipping Stones on the River Styx seeks to define the human experience of loss, grief and death through a deeply personal lens. The poems explore physical loss of loved ones, the energy of objects left behind and the desire to assign meaning to what remains. The speaker in this collection wants to heal and the journey skips from conversations with the dead to contemplation of one’s own death, which leads back to gratitude for life, despite the pain that living can bring. Open, honest emotional vulnerability, combined with a playful and fantastic imagining of the afterlife make this collection a unique exploration of what we all must face in our lives: Death.
Elizabeth Rae Bullmer received her B.A. in Theatre and English, with Emphasis in Creative Writing and Performance, from Alma College. She shares her home with four extremely demanding felines and her two phenomenal, adult children are her top role models. Elizabeth works as a self-employed, licensed massage and sound therapist in Portage, MI. Skipping Stones on the River Styx is her fifth chapbook.
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