Summertime Funeral

By Valeria Vance

I’m sorry I died before the summer was over

I know wearing black in the summer is a pain

Flies and mosquitoes buzz in the air

The sun beating down on the bodies below it

Sweat and popsicle juice dripping into the Earth where I shall be buried

The grass around is withering and brown

I know you’d rather be swimming in a cool pool than swimming in heat, in death

I know when your friends ask how your summer was you don’t want to tell the story of me

I’m sorry for the inconvenience

I’m sorry I died before the summer was over I would prefer to be buried in the spring anyway