Stones From Heaven... Poem by RIC BASTASA

Joy died.

The Spinster sends the
text Message which the Flirt reads aloud
in the Gathering of the Living. It says:

Dear Flirt,
I cannot answer all of your messages.
I am grieving over the death of Joy.
I refrained using words. But this i must tell you
I am in grief, I cry all day,
and sometimes I think that when Joy died earlier
than expected, I think, she must be lucky,
as the Living Them brought the Niche,
decked with assorted flowers, and
garnished with evening prayers.
I wish I had the same death.

I heard this in the Gathering of The Living,
and I joked that I am praying for Spinster's early death
and I will be bringing flowers and some followers
to recite the Usual Prayers.

Flirt says, If the Spinster hears this
There will be another ten months of Non-Speaking Terms.

Well, I admit, there is more plasticity always going on
in the Gathering of the Living.
Meanwhile, to lighten the Moments of Grief
the Bad Guys are playing
Cards, drink their rum, smoke their cigars,
and you say it correctly

They always find Joy in polluting this
Innocent World
Deprive it with Fresh Air and claim that they are
are the proper residents of the
Gathering of the Living.