February 14th, 2026
The Widower's Echo
A Quatrain Pantoum
Marcel Fabel Price
I always thought it would be me—
the wreckage, the ash, the burnt-out wick.
There were nights I whispered for her death,
a terrible prayer to stop the shattering.
The wreckage, the ash, the burnt-out wick—
I never believed I’d beg the clock to stall.
A terrible prayer to stop the shattering,
to hold the hourglass steady in trembling hands.
I never believed I’d beg the clock to stall—
now there’s nothing I wouldn’t trade.
To hold the hourglass steady in trembling hands,
to feel her pulse in the same room as mine.
Now there’s nothing I wouldn’t trade—
not even the worst day with her laughter cracked.
To feel her pulse in the same room as mine,
the weight of her absence carves new ruins.
Not even the worst day with her laughter cracked—
there were nights I whispered for her death.
The weight of her absence carves new ruins.
I always thought it would be me.
Bio:
Marcel Fable Price is a bi-racial Black creative, proud hoe, and reformed fuckboy turned non-monogamous widower. A trained death doula and award-winning poet, he turns grief into gold and testimony into timeless art. Former Poet Laureate, nationally touring storyteller, and author of New American Monarch, Fable’s voice is an unapologetic call to lean into life, loss, and the messiness in between. As of 2025, his creative nonfiction has been published in Hindsight (University of Colorado Boulder), reflecting his deepening focus on long-form storytelling.
Find him @MarcelFablePrice on all platforms.