How I Remember Death Growing Up

What I hated most
when I was growing up
was when some relative died---

it was not the death itself,
but the fact that I knew
we wouldn’t be able

to listen to the radio
or watch TV
until the mourning period was over.

“Can’t I just listen to the news?”
and grandma would give me
an ugly look and say “No!”

But, if they left the house
to run an errand
or visit the grieving relatives

I’d turn on the TV,
the volume real low,
a constant watch out the window.

I’ll probably
burn in hell
for that one.

Burn in hell
until I’m brown all over.
Oops, too late!