the first death

the first death

when i was a child my sixteen year old cousin died
according to the story she had gotten a virus and
then become worse and then suddenly died at night
dying at home mother wiping sweat from her brow
when i heard the news i recall saying to my mother
who was weeping and trying to comfort her family
that she was sleeping with god now i was so naive
her bones still glowing under the cold dank ground
of course i had fallen in love with my two cousins
one was blond and blue the other dark and brown
they tolerated my childish attention my infatuation
and of course my favorite died and was lost to time
this was the first death i can recall followed by many
i carry them in my heart and mind weighing the soul