You answered the phone with the
voice of someone expecting a weight
to be lifted or dropped; of
some imminent terrible decision, like your
whole being was hesitating on the edge of absence.

Rachel R. Baum is the editor of Funeral and Memorial Service Readings: Poems and Tributes (Mcfarland, 1999) and is the author of the long-running blog Bark: Confessions of a Dog Trainer. Her poems have appeared in Poetica Review, Raven’s Perch, ONEART, Crosswinds, and others. She chairs the committee that will select the first poet laureate of Saratoga Springs.