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Submitted to Big Tent Poetry. This weeks prompt is to write a Dead Man Poem in the style of Marvin Bell. I encourage you to check out Big Tent Poetry for more information on this form: http://bigtentpoetry.org I confess that I had to wait to read the other fine submissions before venturing into the point of view of the dead. Once I got there, I enjoyed the process and want to thank the other participants for their fine poetry.
About the Dead Woman Who Listens
The woman, dead, listens,
hears the sounds of falling
snow on marble or is it
alabaster? She cannot
recall the stone she chose,
cold, pure, unforgiving to
assaults of elements, to
words accusatory or de-
riding. Impervious is she
to all of these as she lies
wondering why they bother
to pretend to care. She thinks
it true, has heard that it
was fact, that once she settles in
this state of inconvenient
silence she might return a
time or two, conclude unfinished
business in a random dream.
More About the Dead Woman Who Listens
The dead woman listens to
the sounds of sighing wind,
stirs within her tomb (or
soul?) aware of changing forces
without knowing sources of
relentless stirrings, questions
left unanswered in the wandering
of her lifetime’s progress through
uncertainty. She washes in the
river she once knew, loosens the
detritus of the wasted years and
wonders if the others understand
futility. Her journey takes her
onward to another lifetime.
Left behind—the useless
messages. New regrets and fears
will challenge her return.
Victoria C. Slotto, Author 