Mourners

Bob and Wendy drove up
from Glendale and spent
last night with me

I don't think they slept at all
These apartment walls are thin and
each time I awoke
I could hear them talking low

They are taking Jerry Garcia's
death very hard
and that won't help Bob's
irregular heartbeat

I set the coffee maker
for them and put out
cinnamon rolls to heat
dozed off and didn't awaken
until six-thirty

They had drunk half a pot
of coffee
then left for the Bay area
and Jerry's funeral

Notes

McDaniel, Wilma. (2001) Borrowed Coats. Hanging Loose Press, Brooklyn, New York.
Courtesy University of California, Merced Library. Copyright owned by the Regents of the University of California.