The Weight
Kaecey McCormick
after Rilke
A dog can bear it. But will you tell me how a woman
withstands the loss? Witnessing the final exhale
through tiny lips, the dimming light of a still-forming
person? The dog licks the still pup for a moment, then moves on—to
eat, to drink, to fetch the ball thrown far into the fallow field.
But the woman—when does she breathe again? When is her mouth—opened
wide in laughter even years later—not also at the edge of a scream? We learn
alongside the dog that life is Death’s sandbox, our castles,
no matter how simply or elaborately constructed, one casual touch away from
collapse.
Originally from New England, Kaecey McCormick writes poetry and prose in the San Francisco Bay Area. She served as poet laureate for the city of Cupertino (2018-2020), is the winner of the 2023 Connecticut Poetry Award, and teaches fiction and poetry at The Writers Studio. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in different literary journals, including Pedestal Magazine, Pine Hills Review, and Jabberwock Review, as well as her chapbooks Sleeping with Demons (2023) and Pixelated Tears (2018). When not writing, you can find Kaecey hiking up a mountain, painting, or reading a book. Connect at kaeceymccormick.com