for Barbara

She is working,
this widow of four hours,
gathering photographs,
arranging for burial,
worrying about taxes.
Surrounded by daughters,
mother-in-law,
granddaughters soon arriving,
it seems it is women's work,
preparing the dead for the hereafter,
preparing the living for the mourning to come
In another time,
another place,
they would be washing the body,
holding in reverence and memory
his earthly flesh,
cleansing him of all
that held him to this world,
a ritual for letting go,
for letting him pass
unencumbered by their grieving,
with nothing but the good
to help him on his way.