My Sister, Who Died Young, Takes Up The Task -- Jon Pineda

[aimlesswanderer.livejournal.com]

My Sister, Who Died Young, Takes Up The Task
by Jon Pineda

A basket of apples brown in our kitchen,
their warm scent is the scent of ripening,

and my sister, entering the room quietly,
takes a seat at the table, takes up the task

of peeling slowly away the blemished skins,
even half-rotten ones are salvaged carefully.

She makes sure to carve out the mealy flesh.
For this, I am grateful. I explain, this elegy

would love to save everything. She smiles at me,
and before long, the empty bowl she uses fills,

domed with thin slices she brushes into
the mouth of a steaming pot on the stove.

What can I do? I ask finally. Nothing,
she says, let me finish this one thing alone.

Comments

[punkinelf.livejournal.com]

Beautiful! So quiet yet deep

[glaciator.livejournal.com]

God this is beautiful.

[gamesiplay.livejournal.com]

This one breaks my heart every time. Thanks.

[missparker.livejournal.com]

one of my favorites.

[mijeli.livejournal.com]

This is very unusual, and heavy on the tongue. I had to read it twice.

[yarrowkat]

oh my. heartbreaking. and powerful.