Waiting

You know her as Chef E, the indomitable founder of WAMPP, and the poet who gave us Arch. As you know, WAMPP's big official opening is this Saturday in Pennington NJ at the Straube Center and its purpose is to bring the arts together to celebrate life and to raise money for research on congenital heart disease. This poem is a heartbreaking litany on the passing of time while the world stands still after the death of a child.

Waiting
By Elizabeth Akin Stelling
Thirty five thousand, seventeen days
have passed since a world changed, a

plate of cheese fighting the elements, moved
to a heavier plate. The pretty orange one

whose chip became a crack, left
broken, 
lying next to unwashed

shriveling grapes on unkept counter
while worms eat through to the core of

waiting granny smith apples in a dusty
fruit basket: once, shiny and green before

decay and gray matter took over. There
is a chance life can be revived with tears

life springs running over the edge of vessels
here and there on the floor—

a house; a home, left to nature, to chance
in torrential storms, or overflow—

of a sink full of dirty dishes
sitting under a ticking clock

hanging next to this year's calendar.



Posted by Annmarie at 8/20/2010 11:19 PM
Categories: today's words
Tags: Elizabeth Akin Stelling time death grief still
 

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