The Time Limit
By Evelyn Frank Hanna

It's time, they all said, their voices
clamoring, drowning mine. She's dead.
That's enough mourning.
You mustn't carry on so.
That was months ago and now
they're all glad, for they know for a fact
that I took their advice and am no longer sad.
They don't know I can act with a heart turned
ice and smile as I hide the grieving
deep inside.

Evelyn Frank Hanna is a family day care provider in Galway, N. Y. Her poetry has appeared in The Christian Science Monitor, in the Our Voices anthology, and in Poetpourri, Pudding and other journals. She also has poetry forthcoming in Potpourri. Her work has been honored in several contests, including publication as a Special Merit winner and as a Finalist in the Fall/Winter 2001 Comstock Review awards issue.