"some suicides are never recorded,"*
the coroner says, and he doesn't even look up,
he just throws it out there
like a different choice of lunchmeat,
bologna instead of salami.
and the parents don't understand
but they nod gravely anyway, and then suddenly
they get it
and they have to act shocked, like,
just what are you implying?
it's only for kelly's sake,
we don't want people to think about her
that way.
and the coroner nods gravely
remembering the last parents
and how they said the same thing
but it was justin-not-kelly,
a noose not pills,
but still a job well done
pruning the prickly details:
a life-and-death, trim and tidy
inside a square inch of newsprint,
including where to send the flowers.
* Line from "The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth" by Charles Bukowski.
Luke Boyd was a dishwasher, diesel mechanic, and lumber millworker before getting an education degree. He currently teaches English in the city of Allentown, PA.