Notes on a Forgotten Burial Ground

Notes on a Forgotten Burial Ground

Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem 

The cemetery where his aunts lie deep

Beneath the sand of Florida hulks deaf

To poetry.  This trio lies in sleep

Far lower than a purgatory clef

In Dante.  Sonnets are unheard of where

These ladies rest forever.  “Tacit” marks

Their measures.  Pianissimo this pair

(Mere silence really) now that they are sparks

In intermittent memory.  One forced him

To plant a white gardenia on the grave

Of sister.  Florida reduced that hymn

To death in noontime sunlight’s tidal wave.

  Their resting place (these three) turned yellow, then

    To withered twigs.  God dares to sing amen.

~ Phillip Whidden

by phillipw | Apr 11, 2025 | AR, AU, LA, LO, MI, Uncategorized, WI | 0 comments