Are You Ready

The shiver of feather and leaf dusts the lawn.
Glimpsed through leaded glass,
rain lily, hibiscus sway in the wind,
a fountain’s basin floats water poppies.
Illness and the seasons betray:
another is gone.
Acapella harmonies fluted
above mourner’s pews,
eulogies raise memory laughter,
rustling of hymnal and regret.
The minister approaches,
Are you ready to begin?
From sorrow’s deepest cell,
the answer comes:
No. Not at all. Never.

 

 

R.T. Castleberry is a widely published poet and critic. His work has appeared in Roanoke Review, Trajectory, Blue Collar Review, White Wall Review, The Alembic and Visitant. Internationally, Castleberry’s work has been published in Canada, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand and Antarctica. His work has been featured in the anthologies Travois: An Anthology of Texas Poetry, The Weight of Addition, Anthem: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen and You Can Hear the Ocean: An Anthology of Classic and Current Poetry. His chapbook, Arriving At The Riverside, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2010. An e-book, Dialogue and Appetite, was published by Right Hand Pointing in 2011.