We turn off the news and drive
through Baltimore Cemetery
to search for your ancestors,
but all I see are angels
perched
on crumbling marble:
think of the cost
of each small body
reaching
for the unseen—
names once carved
in relief
now
invisible.
**
I learned to read
in Mrs. Bailey’s classroom—
letters assembled
into meaning,
took wings.
**
Think: how great
the wages of sin—
no, not sin. No
explanation for this.
The clay of language fails
to mold a proper
vessel
for our grief.
—After Newtown
Ann Eichler Kolakowski recently completed the M.A. in Writing Program at the Johns Hopkins University. Her first book of poems, Persistence, which chronicles the story of the lost mill town of Warren, Maryland, will be published by David Robert Books in 2014. (She took the photograph.)
Ms. Kolakowski – You know how much I adore your poetry! I’m so happy when others get to experience it as well. Love this piece.