Iris Terzanelle By Jennifer Dotson

Iris Terzanelle
 
When I got the call, I broke down and cried
Tears pouring steadily from the well of grief
News that my grandmother Iris had died.
 
In that precise moment, death was a thief
Stealing her breath so it could take her
Tears pouring steadily from the well of grief
 
Attending meetings, she was a Quaker.
At one hundred and four death was release
Stealing her breath so it could take her
 
I hope in passing she found true peace
And that her spirit could go to the light
At one hundred and four death was release
 
My cousin was with her to witness the sight
Opening the window and in the sun shone
So that her spirit might go to the light
 
Soon after family made calls on the phone.
When I got the call, I broke down and cried.
I opened a window and in the sun shone.
News that my grandmother Iris had died.

Jennifer Dotson’s second poetry collection, Late Night Talk Show Fantasy & Other Poems, was recently published by Kelsay Books (July 2020). Clever Gretel, her debut collection, earned the 1^st Journal of Modern Poetry Book Award and was published by Chicago Poetry Press in 2013. Jennifer is also the founder and program coordinator for www.highlandparkpoetry.org.