I Asked the Man Mowing

by | May 24, 2017 | Poetry

I asked the man mowing
the grass in the cemetery
what it was like to mow grass
in a cemetery. “Come on
over and see for yourself,”
he said. I walked through
the gate. “Just be careful
not to swipe the stones.
Families get really upset
if you chip the stones,”
he said. I mowed a little,
enough to see for myself
what it was like to mow
grass in a cemetery. “Thanks,”
I said. “So?” he said. “So,
it was sorta weird,” I said.
“Spooky, you know? Kind
of like I was giving a haircut
to the dead.” “Yeah, but you
get used to it. To me it’s just
another lawn job,” he said.
“Except for them stones. Man,
the families really get pissed
when you hit the stones.”

Photo used under CC.

About The Author

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J.R. Solonche is the author of Beautiful Day (Deerbrook Editions), Won’t Be Long (Deerbrook Editions), Heart’s Content (Five Oaks Press), Invisible (nominated for the Pulitzer Prize by Five Oaks Press), The Black Birch (Kelsay Books), I, Emily Dickinson & Other Found Poems (Deerbrook Editions), In Short Order (Kelsay Books), Tomorrow, Today & Yesterday (Deerbrook Editions), True Enough (Dos Madres Press), In a Public Place (Dos Madres Press), If You Should See Me Walking on the Road (Kelsay Books), The Time of Your Life (forthcoming April 2020 from Adelaide Books), The Porch Poems (forthcoming 2020 from Deerbrook Editions), and coauthor of Peach Girl: Poems for a Chinese Daughter (Grayson Books). He lives in the Hudson Valley.