Bette Hileman’s most recent poem to appear here was Leave Taking (October 2010).
Burying Ashes
By Bette Hileman
By Bette Hileman
On a June day
the gravedigger shoveled out a
rectangular piece of sod
next to Father’s capstone.
He scooped out more soil and
rested a brass urn in the cavity,
while my sister and loving friends
watched in bright Adirondack sun.
Admiring distant mountains,
I nearly missed the burial.
I smiled politely and photographed the urn
as he covered it with soil, situated Mother’s stone,
and laid more soil around it.
Desolate, I focused on that
frozen January afternoon when–
after decades of wandering,
moving from place to place,
dissatisfied everywhere–
Mother died at ninety-eight.
May her spirit find contentment
beside Father’s ashes
that lay alone for thirty years
in a landscape she adored.
What sentiment, Bette. Great poem.