Death is a dress never

worn, waiting in our closets
linen or wool
we can die in any season

a dress too important
to wear, pushed
into a dusty corner

of occasion dresses
bridesmaid dresses
don’t fit dresses

sale dresses
dresses the moths got
dresses bought in bad light

drunk dresses pooled on the floor
worn out dresses
worried dresses

we never get it right.

Ellen Devlin is the author of the chapbooks Rita and Heavenly Bodies at the MET. Her recent journal publications include Beyond Words (2023), Feral: A Journal of Poetry and Art (2023), Muleskinner Journal (2023), Rock Poet Poem (2023), and Westchester Review (2023). She lives in Irvington, New York, with her husband Charles.