Poem: Still Life: Graveyard on Woodbridge Avenue

STILL LIFE: GRAVEYARD ON WOODBRIDGE AVENUE

1.
Weather-beaten flags mark
graves of veterans,

red stripes fading to white,
to memory

2.
weeds sprout like white hairs from
old-man’s half-shaven face

3.
picket fence, gap-toothed
white paint chipped and peeling,
beaten by wind and rain

4.
church façade, a scratchy red,
unwashed brick
like dead leaves in the sun