Unnamed

by Maryann Hurtt


when she was old
and memories were more
company
than neighbors next door
and St Mary’s shadowed her window
where Father Joe
doled forgiveness
in calculated pieces
her mind wandered back
to a time
when kindness
was burying crimson sheets
and tiny remains
of creation
not meant for this world
but silenced from eyes
ready to smite
a woman certain
she must give back
to God
a life she knew
she could not hold
even as she bled
her own existence
almost away


* * * * *

"Unnamed" was originally published in Fox Cry.

Now retired after working thirty years as a hospice RN, Maryann Hurtt listened to a thousand stories of resiliency, pain, joy, and sorrow. Her poetry reflects many of the stories. Verse-Virtual, Gyroscope Review, Moss Piglet, and Anti-Heroin Chic recently published her work. Once Upon a Tar Creek Mining for Voices (Turning Plow Press) came out 2021. Tar Creek has been called “the worst environmental disaster no one has heard of.” Hurtt is determined its legacy is remembered and heeded.