Yahrzeit

Yahrzeit  (June 27, 2017)
     for Adelle

by Jack Foley

It is
What the Jews call Yahrzeit,
A year since your death.
The word stings.
If you retain any consciousness of the world
You know
That I have found a new love.
She has been
A wonder and a comfort
In my grief for you.
I think you would have liked her
(And mothered her!).
Going through your dresser drawer
As we attempt to find room for her things,
She found
A fancy, almost comically sexy garter.
I had forgotten it
But recognized it immediately.
You wore it only once,
On the night of December 21, 1961,
Our wedding night;
You kept it, as you kept many other things, for all these years.
How we formed each other.
How we treasured each other’s hearts.
If the stories are true,
You may be in bliss
While I find my way through this quivering wall of sorrow and tears.
And love.
My first love, my dear first love,
It has been a year
(Has it been a year?),
Yahrzeit.

Your ashes
Remain     in the vanishing morning light.