Jewel

My broken heart still beats
because it must
It has survived before
and it will survive again
I cannot forget
I will not forget
how this crack came to be
It is now an eternal part of me
To honor a life and memory
It will endure
in the sanctuary of my heart

Thoughts After Broken-Hearted Days

Summer will not surrender
these dying days
to Fall without a fight.

Words are not enough
Tears are not enough
to express my grief
I feel the absence
of a former presence
hover around me
This is the natural order
of life-
aging and dying
holding on as long
as we can

I don't need to know the contents
of every heart in the world
just my own.

To heal a broken heart.

Where will this journey take us?
Where has it taken us already?
So many miles and with
how much time to go?

I am sad and will probably be feeling this way for a while.
That's ok. I'd rather the pain of the loss linger. An unseen
reminder of what a life meant to me.

A Summer Farewell

Sweat and tears
on a sweltering summer
afternoon
Last gasps of a season
I couldn't help the tears
or the sweat
Saying goodbye
You're never ready
even when you
think you are
I gazed upon
your face one last time
and watched you
as they lowered
the casket into
the ground
I watched them shovel
dirt until at last
the hole was filled
and the sodden grass
placed on top
In my dreams
we'll meet again
perhaps
if the gods are kind
I'll see you
at the end of
my days

For Jewel

Time marks us so gradually
that we scarcely notice
the change it leaves upon us.

I am aware of my mortality.
I know the ceaseless march of
days will in fact end.

Inevitable. Inescapable.
How many ways are
there to state this?

My niece is no longer an infant.
She is beginning to walk
and use the simplest of language.

There are gray hairs colonizing
my beard. The settlement is
becoming a small village.

How much longer until the village
becomes a city? How much longer
until my niece calls me by name?

Our old dog grows older.
Should I envy her natural ignorance?
I'm not sure. I'm not sure.