Memorial
We will clear a space for him inside us, a space that shall remain empty. We will put a low fence around this empty space to remind us of his absence. We will weed it every so often, for life has a way of encroaching on what is dead. Of course we will not often visit this abandoned space; we learn rather quickly to avoid it – enough that it is there. It needs no inscription. No signposts lead toward it. Even after many years we know exactly where to find it. And, as for others, it is better that they don't know: it is ours alone, not even that – it belongs to no one; it is simply a spot inside us where something has been forever lost, a small memorial no archeologist will ever find.
Peter de Swart grew up in Holland, studied philosophy in Paris and art and literature in Los Angeles. He is a sculptor and resides in the Bay area. Stories of his have been published in The Georgia Review, Wisconsin Review, Mobius, Kestrel, The Oxford Magazine and other magazines.