For this prompt, spend a few moments remembering all of the people you have loved and lost. Remember their voices, their unique catchphrases, their mannerisms—the way they tilted their head when they spoke or looked directly at you, the stories they loved to tell, their thousand small kindnesses, the last words you exchanged with them and what you wish you had said and what you want them to say again to you or for the first time ever.

Now imagine they have returned. They are in the room with you, all of them. What do they look like now—as they did before they died or perhaps they appear younger than you are now? What do they say? What do you ask and what are their answers. How will you let them go again?

Here is a poem you might like:  “My Dead” by Tim Nolan. And to celebrate Memorial Day I am including one of my favorite poems, “Facing It” by Yusef Komunyakaa.