Joanne Lowery
Two days in a row the cemetery sign
warned me about the hazards of time:
Danger. Open Grave. Stay Back.
The second day was an echo of the first.
Yesterday had become a rectangle
of darkness, twenty-four hours
ignoring caution to step forward
and take me closer to six feet’s edge.
In the top of oak trees
crows sat discussing the departure
of the digging crew and placed bets
on tomorrow’s cortege.
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Joanne Lowery’s poems have appeared in many literary magazines, including Birmingham Poetry Review, Eclipse, Smartish Pace, Cimarron Review, roger, and Poetry East. Her collection Call Me Misfit won the 2009 Frank Cat Poetry Prize. She lives in Michigan.