"Death Cleaning"
By Lani Hankins
It has always been easy to throw a life away.
Times uncertain and packed to the brim with unknowns-
Cut sling load and carry on.
I've been doing what the Swedes call death cleaning
since I was single digits.
It feels necessary to burn and remove and declutter
each time the self dies.
Every person I have been began in the ashes of
abandoned remnants from an old life.
Each pile of momentary comforts and knickknacks
meant for filling voids have, in their own way, been
a funeral for every name; For all I used to be.
And with each new life new shit is shifted into corners, packed to ceilings, and shoved into every open space.
With each life discarded it gets easier, addicting even,
to throw it all away.
Some are meant to be the warmth of hearth and home
and some of us are born to grieve.
Lani Hankins is a former Army female engagement team member and a veteran of Afghanistan. Follow her here. Listen to the Savage Wonder episode with her here.
She blogs and podcasts at Kruse Corner.
Bunny: Poems About Surviving Military Life by Lani Hankins
Bottled Away: Confessions of a Struggling Veteran by Lani Hankins
The Gaslit Heart: A Story of Service and Survival by Lani Hankins
Eased Pain: Poems About Surviving Domestic Violence by Lani Hankins
What’s happening at VetRep…
Listen to our latest episode with Lois Hicks-Wozniak on the Savage Wonder Podcast, where we interview incredibly talented musicians, artists, writers, and theater professionals, who also happen to be veterans.
Join us at the Parlor for a performance of Noel Coward’s Private Lives. Generally regarded as one of the most sophisticated, entertaining plays ever written, Private Lives is the story of Elyot and Amanda, once married and now honeymooning with new spouses at the same hotel, who meet by chance, and hilarity (as well as passion, anger, romance and aggravation) ensues. A uniquely humorous play, it has boasted numerous successful Broadway runs with stars like Coward himself, Laurence Olivier, Tallulah Bankhead, Gertrude Lawrence, Tammy Grimes, Richard Burton, and Elizabeth Taylor. The evening will open with veteran playwright Gavin Kayner's ten-minute play TWO PERSONS SINGULAR and then be followed by an intermission. Seating is limited and shows sell out fast, so get your tickets here.