gemstones for the dead—painstaken

for you and only you,
would I unravel messy lineage

sift through  boxes,
unopen yet not
forgotten. the tumblers

sparkle joyous; your name
is remembered

when

watermelon tourmaline
cascades string upon string:

Ethiopian opals, unheated,
untreated, wink like delinquent
pearls in fecund oysters

jewels as silken
as sari sashes,

spider eyelashes.

irridescent beetle backs
crunch under tooth, el dente

my dead darling.

I am the gatekeeper
of Cemetery River End

 

and I submit respect
to those who live where I must work,

an unending undertaking.