Shadows Copyright © Jen Overett 2011

When my dear parents crashed
They saw the crazy girl with the mobile phone
Then felt the thud, the heat, the snow, the long wait
I expect they held hands in the silence
As strapped in and upside down
They checked out their old bones

Solicitous, weary, overcome
Perhaps they seized the moment’s quiet
To renew their wedding vows
So busy with the gamut of life
From worrying about the little ones
To queuing at cemeteries

After the first shock
Bruises seeping from the inside
Turning into rainbows, landscapes
As the next funeral slipped from their grasp
Were they relieved it was one less to attend?
Did they not say so?

So darkness fell
Though they were always there for us
Kind firemen cutting through the mesh of metal
As the wait thinned out the night and the colours blurred
They did not speak of it
And one veil fell then another

Life is confusing
Strapped in and upside down
Shadows falling heavily into the fear
The gentle night muddling
Worrying, whispering
As the light draws in

In this most intimate of moments
A private, wordless waiting
(Fingers reach for darkness
Muffled thud of echoes)
Will my cold bones seek silence
Under a settling snow?