Labor Day

Labor Day.
It's not just one day,
But three long days
That are supposed to be
The grand finale to the summer.

It's a weekend for families
To camp, picnic, or hold barbeques.
It's a weekend for families
To hike, swim, and fish
As they toast summer's end.

Labor Day,
Like all the other three-day holiday weekends
Is exclusive, tight, and bonding
For families and couples,
Sans the widowed.

Labor Day,
Like all other three-day holidays
For those with intact family
Is planned, fun, lively, and busy,
Not like the long dead-end weekend for the widow.

Labor Day,
For the widow is like all other three-day holidays,
Long vacant, isolated wastelands
Where one is not included
And where one does not fit in.....

Labor Day,
It's not just one day,
But a stinging reminder
Of how we are forever changed
And how we long to belong once again.