Policy

[geoff]

V. 2

Policy (thanks to tomoffing, milo, christopher, jeremy, tec, and abu)


When an employee asks about bereavement,
removing the splintered wedge from the door
and sitting before the computer stands by,

the radio puts down its saxophone for the news.
A family member has died.
She is hoping to travel back

a few days to settle the house and service.
When an employee asks about bereavement,
the foreigner with a familiar face,

the mind trickles down cobble stones
since paved over—to a church;
casket handles gnawing

grooves into a younger palm
that surrenders the shuttered shell
to the arms of a hearse—

before returning to the question.
When an employee asks about bereavement,
the first response is a breath of memory,

inhaled and quiet like a candle
spent after the shudder of a heater
within a waking house.

Then a manual is grabbed from a top shelf
and a distant page is found, already
sanitized and prepared to be shared.






_______________________________________________
V. 1

Bereavement Policy

When an employee asks about bereavement
removing the splintered wedge under the door
and sitting before the computer stands by

the radio puts down its saxophone for the news.
A family member has died. She is
hoping to travel back a few days

to settle the house and service.
When an employee asks about bereavement,
the foreigner with a familiar face,

it sends the mind bumbling down cobble stones
since paved over, to a church;
lifting a casket, handles gnawing

grooves into a younger palm,
surrendering the shuttered shell
to the arms of a hearse

before returning to the question.
When an employee asks about bereavement,
the first response is this breath of memory,

inhaled and quiet like a candle
spent after the hum of a heater is heard
again within a waking house.

Then a manual is grabbed from a top shelf
and a distant page is found, already
sterilized and prepared to be shared.