Under the wings of the angels, the little girl walks home through the cemetery. Night falls. 
The crosses lean against the sky, a strange alphabet. It’s quiet—all the angels keep mum. Only 
the crickets ask incessant questions. On the path through the graves, the little girl sees an old 
woman walking ahead of her with a basket full of candles.
            May I walk with you, please? she asks. I’m afraid.
            Sure, honey, the woman smiles. I, too, was afraid when I was alive.







Claudia Serea is a Romanian-born poet who immigrated to the U.S. in 1995. Her poems and translations have appeared in New Letters, 5 a.m., Meridian, Word Riot, Apple Valley Review, and many others. A four-time Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee, she is the author of Angels & Beasts (Phoenicia Publishing, Canada, 2012), The System (Cold Hub Press, New Zealand, 2012), and A Dirt Road Hangs from the Sky (8th House Publishing, Canada, 2013). More at .