The Abandoned Gate

The Abandoned Gate

The call tonight broke the silence
Sister A. called with the news
Sister Linda came to town
Twenty years of separation ending
Father J. was dead.
I heard it in her whiskey-drowned voice
Tears of sadness and relief
A cleansing for redemption
Like scraping old paint from wood.

The untended fence kept people out
And shut her in, ivy growing over old dirt
Dry leaves clinging to cobwebs
Bits of trash under broken twigs
Covering undisturbed burial grounds
Of pocket-sized creatures and insects.

Sister Linda came to town
To mend the fence, to pry open the old gate
And hose down the pathway leading to both sides.