In Defense of Joggers at the Cemetery

Elizabeth N. Flores

June 11, 2023

Two joggers followed a path nearby as a family buried their father.

The priest gave the joggers a harsh glance. 

The eldest son cursed them under his breath. 

“Let the joggers bring some life to that lonely cemetery,”

the elderly widow told her children after the funeral

over their strenuous objections.

She imagined the joggers stopping to rest a little by Papa’s grave, 

taking a few minutes to read his headstone, 

amazed that he lived to 103, marveling at all he 

must have done in his long life.

“I hope we can go visit Papa at least once a week, God willing,”

the widow added as she made the Sign of the Cross.

At 95, after three strokes in as many years, a weekly visit was unlikely.

The widow sighed as she rested her hand on the prayer card

with Papa’s photo. “I hope the joggers go often,” 

she told her children, and they knew the discussion 

of joggers at the cemetery had ended.

Elizabeth N. Flores, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, taught for 46 years at Del Mar College and was the college’s first Mexican American Studies Program Coordinator. Her poems have appeared in the Texas Poetry Assignment, Corpus Christi Writers 2022, an anthology edited by William Mays, and the Mays Publishing Literary Magazine.