Outside the town past the railroad
where the white mustard grows
A killdeer calls over a woman’s wails
And dusk retreats its way to night

In darkness the place is visited
by an entourage of boys black like ravens
carrying a limp grief to sew
they spend the dark hours crying
it into the ground and leave

the soil swollen marked by its barrenness
walking with the rising sun on dawning
sadness the boys make their way
back to town and through its center
to the house

no mother should bury her child

the killdeer calls over silent morning
a woman comes out on the porch
with dried tear ducts and an air of old spirits
she sang with them all night
a boy took lead and made a path

to the woman’s stance
and like a thief lightly lifted the mustard seeds
from her weakly hands
then he turned and the flock went on its way
outside the town past the railroad
where the white mustard grows

– Jordan Lindsey