People Collide

by Isle McElroy

Grief stutters and ruptures and upturns and stomps.

He was charming. The way a knife can be charming.

Parents say they can never imagine burying their child, but it is the only thing we imagine. The movie plays nonstop in the backs of our brains. From the instant we know you exist we fear learning you don’t. Beneath everything we do is a plan: how we would act if we lost you.”