My poem, “Stars” was just published in The Reach of Song, a poetry anthology published each year by the Georgia Poetry Society. I wrote the poem in memory of my aunt, JoAnn Barnett Pierce, my mother’s sister. JoAnn wasn’t just my aunt—she was a dear friend. She was one of my primary sources for our family history when I wrote Chinaberry Summer. She never lived to see my book published, so I dedicated my book to her. She died after her car was struck by another driver in April 2006. She was on her way home after buying seeds for her beloved songbirds. My poem is based on my memory of being in her home with family members after her tragic loss.
STARS
By Carroll S. Taylor
—For JoAnn
The drawer glides open without effort.
Silverware lies nestled in a tray,
placed in precise silver stacks.
My eyes see stars,
sprinkles of tiny asterisks
etched in the handles of the spoons,
waiting for the touch of her fingers.
The fingers that will never touch those stars again.
They are touching higher stars now.
I need one spoon, only one,
to stir cream into my coffee in her pottery mug,
not a Styrofoam cup from the funeral home.
The cool cream in a waxy carton
I found in the refrigerator.
The cream she will never taste again.
She is drinking milk and honey now.
She wouldn't mind my coffee at all, I know.
I lay the spoon in the sink.
I lay it there tenderly as a benediction,
and I see those stars.
I cannot forget those stars.
I cannot forget her.