A Morgue Encounter


There is a most primitive wailing sound—
a stricken keening of utter despair—

a mother’s awful symphony

of savage tongue,

throbbing throat,

and ruined heart.

Identity must be determined.

A son? handsome youth cut down?

A daughter? blooming beauty snuffed?

Father, steeped in rage, refuses to go,
preferring to drink himself numb,

and lay blame at a careless God’s doorstep.

There lurks a hidden cavity,
a storage packet of sudden death,
murky beneath Seattle’s
dark, wet streets.

An officer of laws for the living

escorts Mother down a dim hallway
to a large viewing window where
teenage boy, lies in state under bright lights

and hideous shroud of white sheet.

The blanched face revealed—

Sightless eyes cannot see Mother,
Stopped arms cannot hug Mother,
Silent voice cannot thank Mother,
Sealed lips cannot kiss Mother farewell.

Comes the keening.