Guidebooks for the Dead
By Cynthia Cruz
Mother's crimson leather bags
Crammed with saint cards
And tiny glass bottles.
The bright stitch
Of God's final coming.
Dirt and dregs,
Silt and stars.
The sweet song
Of poverty
Rinsing through
Like the memory
Of a dream.
Copyright Credit: Cynthia Cruz, "Guidebooks for the Dead" from Guidebooks for the Dead. Copyright © 2020 by Cynthia Cruz. Reprinted by permission of Four Way Books, www.fourwaybooks.com.
Source: Guidebooks for the Dead (Four Way Books, 2020)