Martha Webster
The Mourner’s Office
I waited on a seat of oxblood
velvet in a bay window
above a raining courtyard.
His coat hem swept the floor
from the mirrored door:
his last appointment.
My purse, a pouch
of Krugerrands.
Now, I was at last
a lady. The dead fox
at my neck, smothered
in a bath of “Joy.”
Documents to sign,
and a promise of taffeta.
I pen my name
and the lavender
bequest of my mother’s
sadness is mine.
Martha Webster is a grandmother, nurse, hiker, whale watcher living in Los Angeles. Publications include Cortland Review, Collagist, Four Way Review, Glass, Juked, Laurel Review, Prairie Schooner, Provincetown Arts Magazine, Seneca Review. She has mentored for more than 7 years with poet Cynthia Cruz.