Canopic  (or: Jar in a Niche)
by John Wilkinson



Containment… 
Futile is hardly 
the word for it. 
Ceramic,
bronze-finished;
Can a small jar of ashes
contain eighty years
of life?
I see it bubbling over
with love,
with memories…
Camping trips, air shows,
pictures of a young man
in a wool hat
at Chin Hae, Korea. 
The day, playing baseball
in the alley, that he
pulled a hard liner
straight through
the neighbors’ garage window.
The savory smell
of marinated steak on the grill,
the penetrating odor
of model airplane glue. 
A small jar has no hope
of containing a father.





x
Illya's Honey Literary Journal

Copyright © by Dallas Poets Community. First Rights Reserved. All other rights revert to the authors.