Favors From The Dead

The dead did Tristan many
Favors. Everything he asked
For, he got. When his talking
Phone was hit by lightning,
He asked his departed uncle Buster
To fix it, and the phone was
Talking again within minutes.
When he asked his great-great-
Great-grandmother to send him
A care package, a fruit basket
Dropped on his head. These
Were only two of the many things
He asked for. When his partner
Died, Tristan found himself being
The lone survivor of an alien race
Of two. His partner had left him
A note, "I leave you my space-
Suit. I will see you again." Tristan
Didn't really know what to make
Of the note, but he started to build
A shuttle in his house. At every
Turn, Tristan asked his partner
For help with the building, and
He got it. When it was complete,
Tristan was excited, and proceeded
To try and launch. But launch, he
Couldn't, and so he asked his partner
For more help. But this time, his partner,
said no. Frustrated, Tristan stamped
His feet and pleaded, but the answer
Was still no. Exhausted from his
Antics, Tristan went into his bedroom
And locked himself in. He crawled
Into his closet as if he were crawling
Into a womb. He noticed something
Shiny in the back of the closet,
And realized it was his partner
Spacesuit---he really did have one
After all. So Tristan put it on
And fell asleep. He dreamed of
A frozen field of souls, and then
He was one of them. When he tried
To wake up, he couldn't. Tristan
Was ready to acknowledge the magic's
Presence, and so he wandered off
Into the cosmos, searching for
His partner, searching for the light
That he had read about in books,
Which now collected dust on his shelves.

"Favors From the Dead"
Noelle Kocot
The Bigger World
Published by Wave Books

This, out of all of her poems, seemed to get to me the most. I loved how purposeful the spaces seemed to be, and the images, especially toward the end of the poem, were some of the most powerful to me. The way it ended left me with this sad, wistful but oddly satisfied ending I like to have with some poetry, and it all just sat well inside my stomach.