What Death Caused Her
by Derek Ellwood
Her mouth was like a vase
Accepting anything that was put into it
The similarities ending there as none
Of the things that entered her were
Ever beautiful
The hair between her legs was
Meticulously trimmed
Likely the only thing about herself
She ever took care of
Tattoo on the inside of her bruised
Wrist read “I heart Mom”
A love that had been there a
Long time
Now both faded with time
I imagined her phoning home from
An old dilapidated phone booth like
The one her crumpled body was
Found in
A mother’s hello going unanswered
A lost child just wanting to hear
Her voice before placing the
Receiver gently back into its
Cradle
The same way her mother
Probably placed her when she
Was a infant
Investigating for an identity
I found none
The only possession a well
Worn journal belonging to an
Older brother perhaps
The last two entries reading:
I think I’ve been on
This shit too long
Drooling into my bedroom
Lawn
In loving memory of my dear brother
Go rest high upon that mountain
Your work on earth is done
Now she lay on a cold metal sheet
Like a large baking tray
Readied to be slid back into
An ice cold oven
Naked skin a blueish grey
Distorting all beauty
To her still open eyes I wanted
To say something hoping a whisper
In tenderness may deliver her spirit
Somewhere safe
Would that have been my place
Would that unanswered mother
Wanted me to?
Spring 2022
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