Ashley Hansberry
Grandma's Locket

I wanted to visit his grave, to say hello and goodbye.
But my feelings disturbed me-
I was not sad, but detached like I was visiting a stranger.

He was not there,
Under that ugly, frozen ground
Represented by a gray stone and wilted flowers.

He was doing cannonballs at the community pool,
And trying his best to make up the lost time.
I had not seen him for years; he was just a picture.

That's where I saw him;
Not in his grave,
And my eyes swelled with pain.

We picked him up to go to our family Christmas party,
And he entered the car with such excitement.
His love and compassion filled my heart like a balloon.

That's where I saw him;
Not in this grave,
And the tears burned my skin like the sun's rays on that upright stone.

I hung up the Christmas ornament he made in school,
I hugged his dog Sadie the way he did every time he saw her,
I held the picture of us dancing at Uncle Jimmy's wedding,
And, it was then that I started to feel...

But it was not the sadness or grief I expected.
My cheek muscles started to tense as a smile formed,
And I felt joy because he is not gone at all.

He is at the Delaware pool, in our car,
At grandpa's house, and in my home.
He is always with me everywhere I go like
The picture of him in grandma's locket;
Close to her heart, but hidden form the world.