You can’t just say, “all your kids
were crushed by a house!”
Even if they were happy
when it happened, their feast
ending with a painless thud.
Pretend this scene is a scene,
and you a painter. Please, capture it faithfully,
but make it beautiful: ease the eye
first to the clouds as they were that morning
(it is important that the air is portrayed positively),
then to the pretty pillars around the room
(even if so little now remains intact). Be quick
to display the wonderful clothes
the children wore; let the eye smell
their wine. Don’t condemn them,
even those that you secretly hated. They are angels
and you will serve them.
When you’re ready, and only then, glaze
your work with varnish.
Place it in an well-crafted frame.
Present it kindly. Wail. Hurt.
It’s unlikely his heart
will like this,
but it may remain intact.