my sister’s face
is buried
in my woolen blazer
her body trembling
like a young deer
my aunt’s big bosom
is bouncing against
the air

my grandfather
and ten men
are chanting the Kaddish
my father is tossing
the first shovel
of dirt
over the wooden casket

and my grandmother
is trying
to leap
into the grave
of her firstborn

Gloria’s poetry and prose have appeared in The Paterson Review, Poet Lore, Bardic Echoes, Third Wednesday, Flapperhouse, Moment and others. She is the winner of the 2014 first prize Anna Davidson Rosenberg award, Poetica Magazine and third prize recipient in the 2017 Writer’s Digest Poetry contest.