Pillars of Civilization

as they sit and learn i walk the city
streets alone pillar after pillar
i walk block after block street after
street i turn to greet father after son,
and then i see baby kalik deadecember
twentyone, fletcher trudy and louis
beloved husband beloved wife, rest in peace
michail mednik, a great son, only twenty one,
boris boris and boris betty benjamin and morris
and evelina my dear crooked rose in stone
evelina beloved by all, still still seventeen
right beside galinca – our love, forever –
with s p a c e aside for he who cried
and then i see him, tulip rock and stone
papa i used to call him now beneath a dome,
forty six and ninety seven – may to may –
he lives with us in memory upon the stone’s display
Oh! What Ugly Words Sprout in May!