The Cracks Of Grief

The Minneapolis Star pulled no punches John Berryman jumped from a bridge Landed, a dead weight, on the bank of the Mississippi In the land of jacarandas in Messolonghi, Greece, Byron suffered a lingering death by healthcare Leeches, opium, mustard blisters, the works Strips of his skin, preserved as poetic relics In the worst winter for years Plath wrote 13 poems in 8 brief weeks Lay down like a lamb in a top floor flat In Primrose hill, breathed in the Lion, Death Anne Sexton lunched with a friend, Chit chat about writing and such Then home to Black Oak Road Into the garage, switched on the Mercury Cougar She went out in style, ringless, wearing a fur coat Glass of vodka in hand, toasting the Grim Reaper Peacefully/ Suddenly/ Bravely After a long/short struggle The dead are written off And after, in the columns of the press The poems of ordinary folk, remembering. Their healing rhymes that mend the cracks of grief