An Idea
I never planned for the end.
It came anyway.
And perhaps because I was not responsive, it came three times:
. Fire.
. Mudslide.
. Divorce.
And swiftly carried away all I had, loved, knew. But left me. . . to do what? With what?
Are these the stages of grief, and am I mourning myself; already gone yet still here?
I never planned for the end.
. It will come anyway.
. When it does, put my ashes in the sea: return me to Start: Water. Motion. Breathless. An idea.
Christina Gessler holds a PhD in American history. She specializes in the private writings of 19th century American women, which mostly means she can read faded handwriting in a crumbling diary and piece together the story of a life that once was. Her poems have been published in Arrowheads, and Spectrum.
