Ritual
In a weakened moment
I open the box,
remove each card
and read them
one by one.
I don’t glance
at the clock,
not even once,
taking all the time I need
to get through the observance.
When done with
my ceremony,
I close up the case,
tape it securely,
then bind it with string.
But even as
I bury it
in the deepest,
furthest corner
of the storage unit,
I remain fully aware
that these measures
won’t stop me
from repeating the ritual
the very next weekend.
Cristine A. Gruber has had work featured in numerous magazines, including: North American Review, Writer’s Digest, Ascent Aspirations, Dead Snakes Online Journal, The Endicott Review, The Homestead Review, Iodine Poetry Journal, Miller’s Pond, The Penwood Review, Poem, Thema, The Tule Review, and Westward Quarterly. Her first full-length collection of poetry, Lifeline, was released by Infinity Publishing and is available from Amazon.com.
This is both beautiful, heartbreaking and uplifting. An eminently human moment vividly shared. Such a gentle revelation is a gift to the reader.
Lovely poem – so mythical, so real.