I will never let them applaud
at your death
like you were a ball to dance on my nose
and I was a performing seal
I will make them quiet
and if they listen
they will hear you in the kitchen
making me tea.
I have a lot of longing,
I’m as shallow as the world makes us all,
but there is no emptiness as vast,
no space at the table that
haunts and humbles like your space.
eleanor j jackson 