Joplin
her hometown
her high school
demolished
her friends' homes
demonly wrecked
her friends
alive
Joplin
she spoke the name with love and casual pride
the homemade prom dress
the teenage boyfriends
the restaurant where she counted her tips at night
Joplin
the name now sacrosanct
the country bows her head
one more temple site on the map of our holy land
Joplin
all over the t.v.
a man mourns the death of his two sons
while standing on a pile of wood which used to be
the place where they ate and slept and did homework
where they threw baseballs in the yard and rode bikes in the driveway
Joplin
the high school is gone
1 comment:
omg.. it's Christmas Eve morning, the early hours and I am looking for the Temple poem to print and I see "Joplin" in your sidebar. And now I'm teary with love and remembrance and humbleness and thanks. You never mentioned you wrote this. That is you. So silently gracious and kind and full of humility. Teacher on so many levels. I love you xx
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