DON’T INVITE ME TO A FUNERAL

Words by Angela Acosta 

Don’t Invite Me to a Funeral 

Please don’t invite me to a funeral, 

I’ve already missed two
in as many years.
I promise it wasn’t my fault –
I couldn’t stay long enough
for the preparations, not yet underway.
I couldn’t travel to reach
a remote resting place,
to see distant relatives I barely remember. 

I’m not familiar with your traditions
any more than I would be my own.
I cannot prepare tamales or aguas frescas
without some adult supervision.
I’ve never had to come up with a eulogy,
though perhaps the time will come. 

It’s not just a day of mourning that haunts me;
clouding my vision is the pain
of lost traditions, absences stretching
deep into my family tree. 

Even as the event itself goes on without me,
you know where to find me and my verses,
for when the sun sets and we gather again.