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Unnamed Early 20th Century Burial in St Matthew’s Episcopal Church Cemetery, by Paul Jones

9/8/2020

8 Comments

 
Picture
Unnamed Grave, photograph by Paul Jones (USA) contemporary

Unnamed Early 20th Century Burial in St Matthew’s Episcopal Church Cemetery 
Hillsborough, NC (2020)


A small grave marked “Unnamed”
Without date or acclaim,
Past century’s mystery,
Performs a ministry
Of grace in this churchyard.
This modest slab set hard
Against the worst weather,
Something meant forever,
Became grief’s darkest gift.
A still birth swiftly shifts 
Love from cradle to grave.
Was this small life unsaved,
Unbaptized and not named?
So pure life was reclaimed
Before life could begin,
Before the curse of sin.
Yet love with that life stayed.
Where roots have made a braid,
A resurrection fern
Each rain, in green, returns.

Paul Jones

Paul Jones’ poetry has been published in Poetry, Red Fez, Unblocked, and in anthologies including Best American Erotic Poems (1800 - Present). Recently, he was nominated for two Pushcart Prizes and two Best of the Web Awards. His chapbook is What the Welsh and Chinese Have in Common. A manuscript of his poems crashed on the moon in summer 2019 carried by the Beresheet Lander.
8 Comments
JENNY BATES
9/8/2020 09:05:32 am

...grief's darkest gift...

just brilliant!

Reply
Paul Jones link
9/8/2020 09:27:03 am

Thanks, @jenny

Reply
Carole Mertz
9/8/2020 11:13:35 am

There is pain and such beauty here. The imagery of your last four lines will stay with me. I am grandmother of a lost child.

Reply
Paul Jones link
9/8/2020 11:22:08 am

Thanks @carole

Reply
Robert Fruehwirth
9/8/2020 12:09:52 pm

"Something meant forever," This is powerful.

Reply
Paul Jones link
9/8/2020 12:41:02 pm

Thanks @robert

Reply
Robin Sheedy
9/9/2020 11:20:28 am

I'm so glad you wrote about that marker. Evocative.

Reply
Paul Jones link
9/9/2020 11:40:34 am

Thanks @robin

Reply

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