Susan Delaney Spear

For a Decade

                   with a line by Rusted Root

I could not break the seal of the urn

And feel your grit of ash, and sharp, stray bones.

Well, pick me up with golden hands.

I could not sprinkle you into a sea

Of blue-green mystery.         

I could not scatter you across a lively meadow.

I could not, would not let you go.

Well, pick me up with golden hands.

For ten years, I’ve kept you on a shelf,

Among old books, out of sight.

But now I see, when you chose death,

You wanted to be free.

Susan Delaney Spear is the author of two collections of poetry: Beyond All Bearing and On Earth….She is the co-author, with David J. Rothman, of Learning the Secrets of English Verse, a poetry textbook that teaches meter and form. She lives and writes in Tampa, Florida. You can find her at www.susandelaneyspear.com.