Footprints on the Moon by Lorraine Marwood

Author:Lorraine Marwood
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Queensland Press
Published: 2020-12-08T21:39:29+00:00

Saying goodbye

I focus on my vases

of flowers as hard

as I can while

the funeral service

unfolds.

Dad reads out a timeline

of Grandma’s life,

(I listened when Dad sat

at the kitchen table

and asked Mum

and Aunty Jessy

questions about

Grandma’s life.)

Mum is too upset

to stand at the front

and read.

Dad even recounts

a little funny story

to share, but it’s

when the coffin

is lifted onto Dad’s

and some other men’s

shoulders,

that I just cry and cry.

Mum and my aunt

file down after the coffin,

arms around each other,

then it’s Cas

and me and Lewis.

Our neighbour

pushes Uncle Tom

in a wheelchair.

I just concentrate

on the outline

of Mum’s figure

because I am

crying so much,

I can’t see where

I am going,

or even any of the other

people in the pews

standing either side

waiting for the family

to leave the church first.

At home, I help Mum pile

plates with sandwiches,

scones, slices

and pass around

cups of tea, but it is so

full of people wanting

to hug and ask questions,

or use our bedroom

to put their cardigans in

and powder their cheeks

after crying,

that I go again

to Grandma’s garden.

I just want to sit at Grandma’s

table on the porch,

look at her flowers

smell their fragrance

and think of Grandma

by myself.

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