But I’m still crying, still a mess, still remembering that I’m the reason she died in a wheelchair. How, when I was still small enough to be carried, she slipped and broke her hip while holding me. Everyone is whispering amen and I am all blasphemy, a faith tied only to soil. The preacher speaks about ascension, but I’m grounded, can’t stop staring at her hands. How they look like they could reach out. How they must have held me so tight when she hit the asphalt.


Kimberly Wolf is a poet and parent selling books in Texas. She is often dreaming of a mountain.
Header photograph by Linds Sanders
Header artwork by Jordan Keller-Wilson