A Poem by Kari Wergeland

Cremation

Strike the match above the sand

Strike it in the wind

Strike it till the corner catches—

the baby file.

Feed the fire with insurance claims,

            journal entries, and medical documents.

Feed it till flames force you to step back

and notice the waves crashing into basalt

before the setting sun.

Leave the ashes to the tides of winter.

Kari Wergeland is the author of Voice Break, as well as The Ballad of the New Carissa and Other Poems. In addition, she wrote a children’s book review column for The Seattle Times, which ran monthly for 11 years. Wergeland recently earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Pacific University. She works as a librarian for Cuyamaca College in El Cajon, CA, and lives part-time on the Oregon Coast. For more information, please refer to her website: kariwergeland.wordpress.com.