Mortality and Canned Peas
It may sound heartless when I say
that my first memory of death
is tied to the taste and texture
of green peas from a can
When I first recalled all this
I was sure that these disparate thoughts
had accidentally bumped together
in pre-dawn mind meander time
so I circled back
around my first remembered home
first memory of mother sitting
on the low back stoop in summertime
then on to Maine and my first schools
box after box of feelings to sort through
or more like stacks of wrinkled paper
to be examined each in turn
and here it was the classmate
disappeared from school one day
my parents told me
as supper sat untouched on plates
told me heaven makes this all OK
and so began digestion of
life and tuna casserole
and soggy tasting green peas from a can
© Frank Kearns 2015
