THE DEAD WOMAN LOOKS AT HER REFLECTION

Let us be clear about this.
There is water, and then there is water.
There are thoughts, and then there are thoughts.
Sometimes there is love, not to be confused with that other love.
We must be clear especially in the dark.
There is darkness and then there is absence of light.
In this hand that is not a hand I once held you
as if you were a thought, which of course you were not.
You were the kind of love that made light,
that turned even the darkness clear
although deep under water.

Let us be clear that this is the end.
There are endings, and then there are endings.
Some have middles but few have beginnings,
since no one has witnessed an event horizon.
We must be clear about motives,
especially those of the dead woman,
who might or might not have given birth
but left no map or directions.
All survivors are on their own, left floating in water
that is clear and not clear, depending
on how they propose looking and ending.

Let us be clear about death.
There is death and then there is death,
one without life, one without light.
Those who live in the dark prefer the latter.
To the other it doesn’t really matter.
They are the first of the last men
to blame the dead woman. 

***

Sue Parman is an anthropologist and award-winning poet, short story writer, playwright, and artist. She writes in a number of different genres, from anthropological travel memoirs to horror, science fiction, and fairy tales.