Minutes tick away beneath my gaze

He looked asleep that day
 They really did a good job...

But when I reached inside
 the steel blue casket
  to touch
his steel blue hand

 I saw

his wedding band on my right hand
 winking light
with my every quiver.

My fingers slid over the
 powdery make-up
  speed-bumping
      over the ridges
      24 years of marriage
      had left behind

with a crateful of memories
 skidding and bumping
  around my mind.