That evening when the call
came that broke the news
that broke my heart
the receding sun was a dark ball

death in the house

my heart sank
like an undermined building

mama gone?

this isn’t just a death
it’s THE death

and you said to me:

Cry, it will make you calm
suffer your tears to flow
they’ll someday dry

but no –
my tears flow still
when, like a hollow gong,
that voice rings in my head

death in the house

that evening
the darkest evening
of my life

is forever etched on
my memory’s wall

Line 21 borrowed from line 8 of Robert Frost’s