My Parents Poem by r james sterzinger

my parents lie
side
by side next to
each other
in a Catholic
cemetery
in Central Wisconsin

a little narrow path
winds up through
that cemetery
and if you follow it
all the way to the west end
where they both are buried

there you will see all the people
that use to come to our house
at Christmas time
or Easter
or baptisms
and first communions
and play rummy...
all together
just like they use to
a long time ago in our kitchen.

it's nice to think of them
all dead together
so they are not alone.
I guess that's the good thing about death
in a small town
the folks you lived with
don't have to be invited over anymore

and my parent are together there
side by side
unlike they were in life
and some how that tickles me
as a big tear just plopped
in the middle of my keyboard
as I write this
and feel alone
with the house quiet
like I will be
sooner than I care to think