A Death in the Family
Tied to my finger
is remembrance.
Acid-colored
ribbons so tight
there’s no removing them.
So I make fists, or
put hands behind
my back or sit
on them.
Jeweled dagger through my heart -
it protrudes.
To pull it free would mean
bleeding out. It would be
fatal. So
no tight blouses
and not too
low-cut.