First visit, during the county fair
after Anne Sexton
it is June.
i am tired
of being strong.
i place wet wild daisies
on stone, a weary offering.
some petals obstruct your name.
of all the sad new facts here,
i would much rather admit
the daisies.
it is beginning to rain,
a slow one, tapping on the canopy above
before it begins to dimple
this bleak neighborhood,
& i lie in the dirt next to you
one last time,
allowing it.
i know the injury
of acknowledging death
in back of every i love you—
accepting what falls before it does,
but goodbye
is always hovering like this,
a red balloon tied
to a wrist.
Grace Gilbert is currently studying Childhood/Special Education and English (Creative Writing) at SUNY Geneseo. Grace is a finalist in Sweet Literary Magazine’s 2018 poetry contest, and her work can or will be found in Anomaly Literary Journal, Twyckenham Notes, Maudlin House, Pretty Owl Poetry, Gandy Dancer, Glass Mountain, and other publications. She hopes to pursue an MFA in poetry.