Delivery

The mailman delivered her
last hand and foot prints
cast in white clay. A chaplain
signed the form letter, her name
in the open mouth of the blank.

Everyone is so sorry for us so sorry
for our loss.

I took the box, gave my children
the bubble wrap to pop. Softly
felt the ridges and curve
of her palms and curling fingers
as if she was pressing through
from somewhere else.

The wrinkles and crooked toes.
I hold the hand of grainy plaster.
Later, I paint the fingernails
of each surviving sister.

Renee Emerson is the author of Keeping Me Still (Winter Goose Publishing) and Threshing Floor (Jacar Press). She is online at www.reneeemerson.wordpress.com