i
You dry off your wings,
settle back into the stillness,
breathe deeply the thick moist air.
Your shoulders loosen
as you bathe your feathers in soft morning light,
fill your lungs
with the bright scent of raindrops.
Safe at last from buffeting turmoil,
your heart is quiet.
You tug at life
to shuttle you back
into the flow of her slipstream,
but soul time won’t be hastened
On your lips, still moving, is the prayer
repeated over and over after her passing
like a mantra.
Love, show me
Show me the way
You smell the drift of season —
leaves blush saffron and scarlet.
Love, show me the way …
ii
I strip off my grief,
walk naked into the woods
towing grace behind me like a gossamer train.
I inhale spiced autumn smudge —
bay laurel and sage, her scents,
in life
as in death.
I cup my ear to her cheek —
I love you.
Her leafy body flutters with the wind
as my breath ruffles the fluff on her ears.
My little one, my love,
how I mourn you
and myself …
I grasp a clump of moist forest loam,
fling it to the sky; wail praise
as it plunges to earth,
an altar ever-after.
The azure air darkens,
starshine lights the trees.
A bell chimes C-major.
iii.
You spot fledgling shoots in your garden,
sprigs of self-fondness;
gladness plumps like a tomato in midday sun.
You clip a fresh flower
for yourself –
you,
your dearest companion, lover,
sister.