Andrea L. Hackbarth

from eulogy (redacted)

"eulogy (redacted)" by Andrea L. Hackbarth An erasure poem composed of remaining words from a redacted eulogy. The poem reads as follows: 1. we can begin to talk about death as useful, a vessel fill it with words and we'll emerge singing 2. He spoke reverently of love Although three sons of frightening beauty and intelligence remember that he wanted to be a dad he wanted to love imagined children. 3. an abundance of people loved the eccentric, man allowed him certain advantages for this family, he offered...
3 continued: pain and strife, and we struggled to love him. If he was here to read this, he would tell us to shut the fuck up. Spectacularly. 4. abundance is a thing that happens somewhere not here in the low angled morning dreamscape a dried fig the fibers snaking out in the golden backblast of overcast skies. 5. Then we went inside and ate and drank Because it's been a steep hike....
5, continued: And our collective fabric wants to say goodbye to say "You can go home." breathe. We'll all all be along shortly. Composted among alluvium. Footnote: Original text of "eulogy (redacted)" written by [redacted] and [redacted], with some sections (in italics) by the deceased himself, [name redacted].

Andrea L. Hackbarth (she/her) is a Registered Piano Technician who runs her own piano service business in Palmer, Alaska. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing and Literary Arts from the University of Alaska Anchorage and received a 2022 Individual Artist Award from Alaska’s Rasmuson Foundation. Her work has been published in various print and digital publications, including Moist, YesPoetry, Lunch Ticket, and others. Her chapbook waveforms: a short course in piano tuning is forthcoming in February 2025 by Harbor Editions.