S/weeping

When you are grieving, sweep the porch.
Sweep the walk. 
Shake the mat. 

Flick chips of bark.
Sweep sand.
Gather gravel (from the driveway, where there are no cars now, except yours). 

Sweeping slows time. 

See what has gathered at your feet:
flower petals, leaves, seeds, husks, 
and one black feather. 

These will make a good nest for your sorrow. 

See each item as it was in life 
and as it is now. A curved rind 
of snail shell rocks to its edge. 

Backlit striations catch the sun 
just so 
as the empty spiral tilts toward the light.

The hermit crab of your heart 
tries it on for size
and it fits.

(Oh!) such shelter under this smooth arc,
safe in its miniscule lee,
waiting for rain.

In time the homeless heart 
extends itself again
beyond the shell’s chipped ridges. 

(Tentatively) 
it flows over uneven terrain:

here sharp, 
here pocked, 
here smooth; 

feelers waving
in the soft, inexplicable air.