Highway to Nada

The Erie Street Cemetery dips and rises — 
less than a mile, as the crow flies, 
from Dymphna’s Shrine.

Calzada’s stone: a four-foot granite cross 
near the east fence. Old coffee can, 
a couple dried-up daisies. 

Fulgencia Calzada, 
Fallecio El Dia 11 de Julio 1937,
37 Edad. 

Calzada, highway to Nada.
My dad was thirty-seven 
that year, too.

Who brought the daisies? 
Union records say Calzada’s wife 
is dead, no children.

I still want daisies 
for my father. No, I want roses, 
accolades of roses.

Sue D. Burton | Notes
Contents | Mudlark No. 60 (2016)