in memory of Joy

on the anniversary of her passing

22 years ago

Riverhead,

you were no Dead

Sea—

deep

as knees bent

in flowing praise.

She swam spirited

in you

with frayed

cutoffs,

unafraid, play-

full.

You were drawn out as Moses,

tractable as Red Sea

deliverance,

ever partial to the Passover poor.

You were strong enough

for Jesus’

Galilean feet feat—

Laid out your life for God,

became lakesod,

then changed yourself from water into wine.

Divine at last,

your passage felt as vinegar on a stick

to our cracked lips

moaning for reprieve—

(y)ourself poured out. Believe

me when I say

silent fell the rain

the day

you died

(we cried)

to become a river in Paradise

flanked by endless trees of life.

Until she can rest

her frayed heart at ease

on your banks

this earth will be little more than Golgotha

beside dead seas.

Your leaving

was the spear

in her side

from which

her blood

and your

water

flow.

Your

life

her

life

poured out as strong floods

deep as knees bent

in the solidarity of mourning.

in memory of Joy

by Troy Cady