
Angelo Maneage
Nanny got melted
and then put into a soapbox
displayed at the funeral service / on our door
is a bird’s nest in the funeral wreath
we took home that fell off our door
on the ground which is not where
birds belong / on the ground
the priest was high
as grandpa was kneeling wobbling
with his mom / on the doorstep
two eggs were cracked
and a baby on the ground / holding the urn
at the cemetery
the priest demanded my strength
blessed rather my might
and pointed me to grab the box from grandpa
at the cemetery /
he held his mom
and breath heavy
for a 91 year old / the ground was not so deep
yet the pot was planted clean
into the earth by us and before
we wipe our knees / we scrape the bird off
the ground and / a soap plant buds
Angelo Maneage is a grocery clerk and 2017 recipient of the Academy of American Poets' Alberta Turner Poetry Prize. He has work on Hobart, in Sprung Formal, and around other places. He lives in Bedford, Ohio.