Recess Eulogies by Jessica Outram

November 29, 2022
Poem name: Recess Eulogies Poet name: Jessica Outram Poem: she finds a secret gathering children in a circle along the back fence humming Sarah McLachlan I will remember you to the red ukulele two small rocks hand-painted headstones a bouquet of white lace who died? slug how? suffocation it was me I did it says the 10-year-old laying the slug in its cardboard coffin and the slug gets buried in the schoolyard next to the pen named Sunny who died last week then a private service later a child whispers to her my aunt died last week too and she wonders if it’s ant or aunt but is too shy to ask End of poem. Credits and bio: Copyright © Jessica Outram Previously published in The Thing with Feathers (Piquant Press. 2022). Jessica Outram is Cobourg’s 4th Poet Laureate. She is a Métis writer and educator with roots in the Georgian Bay Métis Community. Jessica is co-host of The Hummingbird Podcast, a weekly podcast about identity, healing and wellness, the spirit of place, and the pull of mystery.