i
as you lay dying
i talked to you
& read you poems
spent my days
loving you in silence
my nights in lonely shadows
moaning like
an orphaned child.
ii
when i learned you were dead
i began counting
heartbeats,
treasuring every breath,
making my life
a prayer.
iii
society prescribes
a congenial period of wake
& a church funeral––
all i wanted was
a black year, sobbing for
my mommy.
iv
on the day of your burial,
you glimpsed the light
we humans cannot see
your smile grew soft,
confident,
fit for eternity.
v
the next morning, it rained &
yellow leaves fell to
the ground.
as i felt
these things
you entered
the sunrise.