Roman Catholic Graveyard Walk, Ste. Anne, MB

tall-stilted grass;

sweeping the long divide

between pressed morning

and elastic afternoon.

thin-soled shoes, and

the day’s structure

went forward,

chain-link held

in school yard fence

chroma-soaked time

pencilled on calendar,

lunch newly digested

through the wire mesh,

the creek’s mud-filled

walls, then

-open palm to cross;

small feet around each

cresting wave of dirt,

calibrating, we

subtracted each

set of shallow-worn

digits;

how deep then,

this formula

of loss.