Death In the First Grade
The kids make
His empty cubby
A memorial in
Stuffed animals
The gas station kind
With bows and
Paper tags that
They leave on
Little ribbons say
I love you
Wrap their necks
In glued-on nooses
They tend the babies
On the shelf
And leave them
Candy every day
Teddy bears
Dogs, cats and an otter
Dressed up for
The afterlife
What will I do
With these animal
Sacrifices after
The term is over
Do I give them
To the mother
Or the landfill where
They will die
Every night
I eat the candy
That licks
His grave
–Ticky Kennedy
Reclusive Poet in Residence
SchoolNewsToday.com
NOTE
Helping Children Cope With Grief: What to Expect With Kids Ages 4-7:
“Kids this age may still see death as reversible. They may draw inaccurate conclusions that they caused the death — something called “magical thinking.” They tend to ask a lot of concrete questions: ‘How did he die?’ ‘What will happen to him now?’”
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