Did not get a funeral

(Her family couldn’t afford one)

Because her little brother

Had begged for piano lessons

She was going steady

With the paper boy

With wavy hair

And a smile like ripe bananas

(Too new for most,

But not for her)

He had big dreams of the

University out in Lincoln,

Where he then met a girl

With the simmer of her underneath her skin

She liked to write

On curled paper

And swim in the Platte River

Naked

Her momma crossed her chest

When she was

Found there

It was

In the paper

And everything

An unmarked grave

In Prospect Hill

Is fertile

With no seeds

So nothing grows there

But it’s always

Prepared