On the Second Anniversary of His Death
for Ben

His white and blue hat
sailors salute on the submarine
sits on the glass hutch
beside the empty urn.

In the windowsill,
a spider on stilts
spins a web that snares
a buzzing bumblebee.
Outside, a Sonoran toad
weeps and wails as rain
washes him from his
underground bunker.

When the sun smiles,
bald baby eagles
chirp from their nest
in the Saguaro Cactus.

*

Sharon Waller Knutson is a retired journalist who lives in Arizona. She has published several poetry books including My Grandmother Smokes Chesterfields (Flutter Press 2014,) What the Clairvoyant Doesn’t Say and Trials & Tribulations of Sports Bob (Kelsay Books 2021) and Survivors, Saints and Sinners (Cyberwit 2022) Kiddos & Mamas Do the Darndest Things (Cyberwit 2022) and The Vultures are Circling (Cyberwit 2023) and has two collections forthcoming: The Leading Ladies in My Life (Cyberwit June 2023) and My Grandfather is a Cowboy (Cyberwit January 2024.) Her work has also appeared in more than 50 different journals. She is the editor of Storyteller Poetry Journal, dedicated to promoting narrative poetry.