wrap me in a blanket
place me high in an oak tree
close my eyes so the birds
don’t peck them away
braid my hair, for braids
mean infinity
sing to me, but only like doves
who coo and flutter their wings
do not try to call me back
I will know when the trees stand
bare against the sky and
when they quiver again to life
Grace Massey has an MA in English and worked for over 30 years as a social studies editor in educational publishing. Her poetry has been published, or is soon to be published, in Spry, Ekphrastic Review, Vita Brevis, Amethyst Review and Front Porch Review among others. She is working on a chapbook tentatively titled Woman in a Borrowed Garden about family and loss. Grace lives in Massachusetts.