SHADOW TAG
I am not strong.
I am breathing.
I am alive with love
in this valley
of apples, cherries, pears,
peaches, and apricots.
My sister, my brother and me
play shadow tag. The grinning
reaper lifts their skirts,
racing to play, catches
my brother, dead to last.
Today is still my brother’s birthday, though he died in March last year. He is standing next to what-used-to-be the nurses station in Killarney. Manitoba. Today is my father-in-laws 80th birthday in England. We didn’t go. Michelle talks to her parents every day.