The Headstone

 We chose to put Rudyard Kipling's poem "My Boy Jack" on the back of the headstone. It is such a beautiful poem, and it fit with Jonathan so well. My parents changed the name from Jack to Jon.

Remember
By Mia Lee
The lilacs are blooming
along the fence
where we used
to climb into the bed of
Dad's red truck
finding cigarette butts
and smelling the
sweet aroma or
Spring's early buds.
Later, we'd pretend
to take a walk
through the jungle
along the narrow
path between the
garage wall and
Charlotte's fence
pushing aside the
bright yellow spray
of Forsythia
and stepping big
over the mud puddle
make by the
leaky swamp cooler.

It is spring again now.
No truck is parked
on the gravel behind
the garage where
the lilacs flower.
The air is fresh, crisp
the first breaths
of life before spring.
I pick a boquet
and drive to where
your headstone is
now erected.
I remember you.