Your Dusk is Dawning

Pinked charcoal heralds the day.
The river swirls in silence.
Salt from the heads tingles my nostrils.
Pelicans float their formation.
A cormorant dives. The current sucks
the ripples smooth.
The roar of an ascending Boeing
reminds me of how I arrived,
why I came.

The sun is bright over the gathering
at the chapel’s door.
No black, few suits.
It’s gear to wear to a barbie,
a concessional tie or two.
Fitting, since your barbecues were legendary.
It’s been so long is repeated with each arrival.
I extend my hand to my niece, my nephew;
catching up, a distraction.

Avoidance dissolves as we file in.
The spray on your coffin is simple.
How do I say goodbye,
my occasional sister,
my sister who left when I was too young.

No stained glass, no crosses.
The service too brief to shift my distance,
it’s the eulogy, recall of the early deaths
of your two husbands,
your daughter’s sobbing,
which wells my eyes
dispatches my grudges.

The after sangers and tea are conduits.
We mourners talk as never before.
I find a flow greater than the river.
The dawn’s pink mirages the noon sky.
Blood becomes friends.

I look back and see your box
wheel once again
through the curtains.
Your final act
brings us together.

About the Poet
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Phil Ilton’s poetry has achieved over 100 awards, including First Prizes in the Victoria University Local Writer's and Centoria Poetry Awards. His poems have appeared in Overland, Imago, LiNQ, Famous Reporter, Envoi (UK), Chung Wai Literary Monthly (Taiwan) and many other journals. Four collections of his work have also been published.

Email: pilton@vtown.com.au