Today I heard one of those stories
the kind that hollows out your head
and makes you say
no
no
no
into the palm that stays
over your mouth
which you leave there for a long time
because there is nothing
a mouth can say
to reverse the absence
of so many people
in one family
in one moment
and you imagine the ones
left behind
and how they bend over
under the days
lined up like lead
each one full of reminders
that must be carried.