Mourn

What happened has barely cooled into a memory.
The ladder’s gone, the ambulances, the yellow tape.
What can we do in the aftermath of difficulty?
Flowers and words say Look here, look now.

The ladder’s gone, the ambulances, the yellow tape,
but a pall blankets the spaces we walk through.
Flowers, words, say Look here, look now. Not away.
Chalked tributes on brick in late afternoon sun,

a pall that blankets spaces we walk through.
Will elegy and eulogy ever be exhausted? Chalk
meets brick to offer one more, in late afternoon sun.
What have you ever loved enough to mourn?

Why aren’t elegy and eulogy ever exhausted?
We are stunned in the aftermath of tragedy.
Have you ever loved enough to mourn? Mourn.
What happened has barely cooled into memory.