A Eulogy for Me
by Stella Romano

On the early morning that the
casket becomes my new home
allow me to put on that black-lace dress
representing the void that has been
shrouding the innocence hiding beneath
this dead skin
but leave my feet bare and let me
pretend that the grave soil is nothing
but warm sand between my toes
you may paint my face into a smile to
cover the frown that has been carved
on it as if asking me to lie for the last
time
and held against my breastbone is
a torn rosary with each bead carrying
not a prayer, but an
unfulfilled promise
as the casket descends to the earth i ask for
no flowers but handwritten letters to remind
me of what i’ve decided to leave behind
for the priest to recite his ritual, may
he also read this poem as my eulogy
for people listen more to the dead
for those who have heard me weep
forgive my sins and my traitorous
mouth with my last breath, my
burdens unleashed
for those who have turned their ears away just
know that the war within me has raged for
years regret is a form of shame arriving to you
as a gift
my body has been dragged across the
dirt even before i lay in this casket under
the Earth but i fought until i had nothing
else to give
but as i return to where i came from the
maggots and worms shall feast on my
flesh and fill the hollow space that used to
be plenty
allow no tears to be shed on a white
handkerchief for the river that flows through
the forest shall provide for your lost hopes
and parting gifts
because the time to grieve has passed for
this time calls for a celebration of my
rebirth and let my body change into what
nature allows
the cracks in my body will make
space spring shall arrive after a
decade of winter and the sun shall dry
the tears i’ve wasted
this eulogy bids farewell to the innocence to
the child who clung to the dreams of
tomorrow but had gotten lost in the endless
sea of clouds
this eulogy hands me the shovel so that i
may dig myself out of this hole and
emerge with the body that nature
provided
and on the early morning of the next,
before the grass grows around the
grave, the Earth shall breathe me
with a new life