the red dress

you arrive
late for you own
funeral. traffic.
but you have
no way to apologize,
you can see the ones
who have always
grumbled at
inconvenience
grumbling again.
the ones who cared,
still caring,
and the ones just
touching base. you
see her in the red
dress. it's funny
how you know so
many things. how
the light has gone on.
the answers
to why this, why
that. seems silly
in retrospect,
the worry,
the sweats,
the anxious moments
of your life.
how simple
it all seems from
this vantage point.
how only you understand
the red dress.