Gardenias droop in August
heat at the Episcopal plot
above the highway
while cars weave the confusion
of Baileys Crossroads.
The looming church is still—
it’s not Sunday.
That whistle-whine
is not the wind
but an inbound bus—
driver, passengers
not knowing
what lies by this intersection.
Dave’s daughter doesn’t recall
her father, whose ashes
were scattered here
ten years ago, to lie
at this crossing.
She’s twelve, about to date
boys, her mother long remarried.
It’s lunchtime at her school
several miles away—she
chats on her cell phone.
Tony Reevy’s previous publications include poetry, non-fiction and short fiction, including the non-fiction books Ghost Train!, O. Winston Link: Life Along the Line, The Railroad Photography of Jack Delano and The Railroad Photography of Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg, and the full books of poetry, Old North, Passage and Socorro. He resides in Durham, North Carolina with wife, Caroline Weaver, and children Lindley and Ian.
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