POETRY

On Bearing What Is With Love

For Deborah, Joseph, and their Massimo

Gone. Left us all here that night, comet chasing starlight,

beautiful all the way, growing — himself, rare cacti,

succulents like art — way beyond these few decades. Here, now, still,

in your new fountain, in the community that gathered around him, in your wide-blown hearts

and your heightened hunger to know, to know more than we do. For now,

today, this month, this year, I say take your best shots. Move your hips.

Put on a great dress. Kiss. And don’t forget the talking, days and years of how you feel,

what you need, whatever bubbles up that buys you seconds of relief.

Honor your pain now and ever forward as dark new power, yours for bearing

what is with love for anyone and anything that keeps you getting up, sipping this,

nibbling that, and relishing the random, moving, funny,

lovely moments that will come. Make them matter.

See each other through. I love you.

Many thanks to wonderful Diana C. for giving this poem for my dear friends a home in her soulful publication, Know Thyself, Heal Thyself.