In every cemetery I’ve seen
a stone with my name
over a long-occupied grave.
(It’s a common name; still,
I’m glad to see the spot’s
already taken, and not mine.)
I found this plot by accident,
hill-climbing for exercise,
amid a quirky quilt of monuments.
Here lie those pioneers who made
the nineteenth-century moonshot,
survived the drive, and lived long.
The one left behind—
a spooked horse, spoiled meat or
childbed fever, and my name chiselled
decades sooner and twelve states away—
precludes this view of snowy coastals
above the river’s graceful turn: paradise
found by facing West.
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Comments: 17
This is beautiful and eerie. Ditto JC's comment.
I have to tell you, though, when I saw the title, I was thinking you were trying to decide which story to write next - which "plot" to use. Yep, I've got manuscripts on the brain.
I was being playful in the title--the plot of a person's life story/the cemetery plot. Silly, I know. I think I originally wrote "choice of fates" but that sounded kind of supernatural.
I NEVER would have thought of describing it that way and it's perfect!
I too thought it was about novel plots. LOL! I was pleasantly surprised when it wasn't. (I'm working on a plot synopsis. yeah, bad vibes there.)
I too had ms on the brain, but this was a delightful surprise.
Thank you for coming by and reading Fate and Destiny!