Along Lee Chapel Road by Eric Pak (16, Virginia)

Along Lee Chapel Road

      one still afternoon, 
            rests a cemetery.  
                St. Andrews Chapel 
            
                  overlooks the plane 
                     idling at the top of a grassy knoll. 
                        This winter, snow drifts from the sky ​

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                            blanketing the ground. 
                               A graying shrub clings to life 
                                  as it wilts underneath the frost 
                               
                                     while nearby, a pair of hollow shoes 
                                        balances against the headstone 
                                           and the Chrysanthemum. 

                                              The leather on the toe box 
                                                  rotted leaving cavities 
                                                     exposing the interior to the outside world. 
                                               
                                                        The sole of the shoe 
                                                            grasps the upper like a child
                                                                holding their mother’s hand. 
     
                                                                   Somewhere, the wind shrivels the leaves, 
                                                                      dragging them past the branchless oaks 
                                                                          they once belonged to. 
                                                           
                                                                             A raven perches on the headstone 
                                                                                gazing at the leather mounds. 
                                                                                   The raven spirals into the leadened sky 

                                                                                       knocking the shoes
                                                                                          into the sea of white 
                                                                                              where it is swallowed and 
                                                                                
                                                                    left to perish

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