Mary Flood does it again: her poem "The Party's Over" will hit you right in the solar plexis! One of the Best of The Memoir Writing Conference 2012

The Party’s Over

By

Mary Flood

 

Sunday morning always meant mass

And breakfast after.

 

That cold Sunday morning our driveway was

Crowded with cars.

 

“A party,” my seven year old self thought.

We went to the front door like invited guests.

 

My mother and aunt greeted us.

“daddy went to heaven.”

 

I thought, “good for him.”

Wasn’t that what they told us in church?

 

“Live a good life so you can go to heaven.”

Daddy did that as well as he did everything else.

 

Why was everyone crying?

So many grown ups with tears on their cheeks.

 

I squeezed out a tear or two myself

Although I wasn’t really sure why.

 

And though I didn’t know it then,

The party was over.

 

Copyright 2012© Mary Flood