by Jane Blanchard

“Dorothy Parker’s Ashes Are Returned to New York”
—The New York Times

Let’s drink to this Algonquin wit
Back in New York for good,
Thanks to the fans who’ve done for her
The very best they could.

More than five decades past her death
The Times again explains,
She failed to make her wishes known
Regarding her remains.

Six years her ashes stayed inside
The crematorium;
A lawyer’s cabinet then kept
Them twice that long plus some.

The same were brought to Baltimore
And set respectfully
On property belonging to
The NAACP.

Henceforth, she’ll rest with relatives,
Say those she never met:
It seems a place in Woodlawn is
As good as she can get.