Still as stone
she lies beside her husband
soon to be her ex.

Forty years earlier, at 28,
she had expected that in death
she would mirror the Egyptian statues
at the museum
one of two constant companions
side-by-side
equal and loving
to eternity.

Instead, when death calls,
she will be single,
leaving behind
a coddled cat.

Her body neither
pampered nor perfumed
but burned to ashes.

Her bones not calcified
but scattered to the wind.

~ Melodie Corrigall

Published in Tic Toc, 2014