Ribbons
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i buy ribbons for her,
for the flowers i put on her grave
but sometimes i find myself pretending
as i meander down the aisle
that i'm buying ribbons for her,
for her long brown pigtails
i smile knowingly at the other moms
talking of dance and gymnastics
and i pretend that i am one of them
i pretend that the ribbons in my hand
will go lovingly in my daughter's hair
instead of wrapped around cold stems
to make her headstone warm
my god this time of year is just so hard
i never know when it's too early
to switch from pink and purple ribbons
to green and red
or how to keep them from getting frozen
and snapping in two
but i do know that christmas bows are beautiful
wherever they are laid
and that she is eternal
whatever season it may be