poem 3 : Mt. Vernon, at Qing Ming

It seems like only yesterday
that we lost them
the memories are so fresh.

We lit the candles & the incense
rearranged the fruits & joss
with clasped hands
bowed to loved ones long gone
remembering sweet secrets we shared.
& licked by hungry flames
paper offerings
their ashes fluttered
like unfulfilled dreams
& shifting in the wind
with the smoke and the chatter
a hint of fragipanni.

It seems like only yesterday
that we lost them
the portraits are so new.

09-04-2001

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Notes : Qing Ming is a Chinese festival in which the living remembers their departed ones. Graves are cleaned and paper offerings burnt. Mt. Vernon? It's a cemetary in Singapore.