How to Grieve on Tuesdays with Flare
~ by Lisa Reilich (vs.3, 3/3/2022)
Cry in your cheerios –
make sure the milk gets
extra salty.
Listen to all her favorite songs until
you can sing them acapella,
all six hundred and ten;
Burn all the junk mail and recyclables
outside, be sure to bring the marshmallows
just because she would;
Watch “Merlin” by the campfire pretending
the tiki torches are from Camelot
and that Puff the Magic Dragon is
just around the bend.
Cry in your cheerios –
take care the milk gets
extra salty.
Sit on her favorite ocean rock at dusk and stare out until
you are sure every star in the cosmos is lit;
Squeal with delight and wonder for each “new”
memory her friends share;
Hang a pinata from a tree in the woods filled with party
favor bubbles, punch balloons and Reese’s peanut butter cups –
Hit it really, really hard
like she would.
Cry in your cheerios –
even if the milk gets
super salty.
Paint her chair blue and sprinkle it with glitter
because life is more magical with glitter;
Dance at midnight in the kitchen to “Dancing Queen”
with absolutely no one at all just because she would;
Bury tulip bulbs in October so you will remember
that flowers playing dead
come back to life in the Spring.
Cry in your cheerios –
make sure the milk gets
good and salty.
Play her pennywhistle every night
even though you don’t know how;
Collect the last apples from her apple tree
on Halloween standing on the trampoline, jump
to get the high ones;
Watch “Coco” in the firelit dark
to make your candle collection look
not quite so over the top;
Make up a new Holiday and name it
after her insisting
everyone celebrate.
Cry in your cheerios –
think about how the milk might taste
without so much salt.
Hang a fairy wind chime in the maple by the sea
so you can hear her sing;
Write poems to find the pieces you are missing
and give those pieces flavor and depth;
Put on your favorite play just to find out
where she went between the lines;
Register for college classes even though
you are over fifty
just so you can finish what she started;
Invite her to dinner and smile because you know
it makes her smile just to watch you eat;
Read “Runaway Bunny” to her at night so
you might find her at the end.
Cry in your cheerios –
be careful the milk doesn’t get
too salty.
Hide easter eggs pretending you are her and then
go find them pretending to be you;
Feed the birds in her park only on Tuesdays
so they are sure to make a special trip;
Take a stuffed sloth with you everywhere,
just because she took a stuffed sloth with her
everywhere;
Go to her college chapel service
every week knowing
you will find her in the air;
Sing out and loud and slightly off key –
just because she did;
Make her favorite lemon squares and eat them
remembering to smile because
she might be watching.
Cry in your cheerios –
salt the milk
lightly with love.
Put together the jigsaw puzzle
with missing pieces because
maybe the pieces will be found;
Paint your nails a baby blue that is so her
you can feel her in your fingertips;
Play all her favorite songs extra loud
on road trips, just because she did;
Share all your favorite pictures, and the ones
you never took, painting them
into life with words;
Discover a new religion and consider
running away and becoming a nun;
Join the circus –
just kidding.
Cry in your cheerios –
but eat them before
they get too soggy.
Travel by train cross country
so you can catch
time going backwards
behind the glass –
It might even stop.
Live like
there is no tomorrow
because there isn’t.
Love like
your life depends on it
because it does.
Feel her
in your fingertips.
Eat your cheerios
just as they are –
the milk tastes better
unsalted.
Remember to dance
with the stuffed sloth especially
at midnight –
Dancing in the kitchen, at the sea,
in the car, around the fire and
just because –
She would.
***
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