The Memorial

The dark mopped kindergartener held her mother’s hand

As she walked them to the grave

The grass was still damp with dew

That was quietly and quickly evaporating

In the warm morning sun of late May

The child faintly remembered coming here before

And briefly waited

While Mother placed a bouquet

Of dark pink peonies next to the headstone

The child in curiosity walked around the cemetery

Looking briefly at the various shapes

And colors of the monuments

And the flowers placed there

While Mother knelt and wept

And said some things the girl couldn’t hear

After a while Mother called to her daughter

And bade her come to her side

The little girl did so obediently

Mother talked about the man

Who she said was beneath the grass

The girl’s father

That the girl could barely remember

Sitting on his lap

While he kissed her forehead

So long ago

The girl said Hi

Followed shortly by Love you

And See you again Daddy

Leaving, the pair slowly made their way

Across the neatly mowed grass

To the waiting car

The heat of the yellow sun

Would dry the grass of all moisture

The flowers would soon wilt

The tears shed wouldn’t be able to sustain them

But the living Memorial would play in her sandbox by day

And dream of her father by night.