Black Saturday

Black Saturday

Lisa Epp

in spring, my father had saw taken
to sternum, his heart stopped

we knew it was coming and yet
the shock waves felt unceasing

we clung to the table legs and pillars
but quickly abandoned these usual posts

pressed our forms into useful rhetoric and prayers
leapt within the strength of sturdy jambs

found shelter in the openness of doorways
that swing wide into outer places

when the time came
we could not say our goodbyes

instead we contorted our lips
around the slipping shape of tomorrow

When my heart has stopped for a moment,
my father said, I’ll say hello to the Lord for you

it was a joke
it was not a joke

we laughed about it after
on the day the breath came back in gasps

there are the grave days in life
there are more often the days of rising

---

Lisa Epp
Poet

Lisa is an emerging Canadian poet whose work has been published in the Capital City Press Anthology (Volume IV) and who has performed works aloud at Sounds from the Valley. When she is not writing, she can usually be found enjoying time with her family and junior high school students.
See www.lisaepp.ca for more of her work.

Photography by Klara Kulikova