In Memory of the Dead
The sacred place where beauty is kept
in memory of the dead
May Sarton, Plant Dreaming Deep
Not existing,
but flourishing,
creating,
astonished by the soft colors
of the sky at dawn
or a spider’s pattern of filaments
woven across the space under the porch -
this I do in memory of the dead.
I am their place in the world now,
my remembrance of them
what remains of their time.
I restore their laughter,
delicate strands of hair,
bright eyes,
when I stir up the past
to season the present.
My laughter is their song
sustained and celebrated,
a reliquary for their brief
but shimmering lives.
I persist, determined to experience
whatever joys
they were denied by death.
I like to think
they would have done
the same for me,
had I left them suddenly
some years before.
Laura Bayless lives in Carmel Valley, is the author of four collections of poetry. Her poems have appeared in many local and national publications. She has participated in seven Women’s Voices readings at the Carl Cherry Center in Carmel and multiple Women and Food poetry presentations on the Monterey Peninsula. She is an Associate Editor of the Monterey Poetry Review.
The sacred place where beauty is kept
in memory of the dead
May Sarton, Plant Dreaming Deep
Not existing,
but flourishing,
creating,
astonished by the soft colors
of the sky at dawn
or a spider’s pattern of filaments
woven across the space under the porch -
this I do in memory of the dead.
I am their place in the world now,
my remembrance of them
what remains of their time.
I restore their laughter,
delicate strands of hair,
bright eyes,
when I stir up the past
to season the present.
My laughter is their song
sustained and celebrated,
a reliquary for their brief
but shimmering lives.
I persist, determined to experience
whatever joys
they were denied by death.
I like to think
they would have done
the same for me,
had I left them suddenly
some years before.
Laura Bayless lives in Carmel Valley, is the author of four collections of poetry. Her poems have appeared in many local and national publications. She has participated in seven Women’s Voices readings at the Carl Cherry Center in Carmel and multiple Women and Food poetry presentations on the Monterey Peninsula. She is an Associate Editor of the Monterey Poetry Review.
