THE SAND HILL REVIEW http://www.sandhillreview.org 2003
When My
Father Died
I stared at
QVC, wanting everything--pink Annette Funicello
toy bears,
then a soy-based carpet-cleaning product, then
molded plastic
devices for moving heavy furniture, till finally
a palette of
lipsticks (when in real life I don't wear make-up)
made me ask,
what's going on? As if Diamonique and special
yard rakes, new
items offered in infinite cheerful succession,
could
replace what I'd lost. I ordered nothing. I drifted
through
temptation to numbness, to feeling somewhat soothed
by seeing what
I need not want, in this valley of the shadow
of my father's
death.