leaf and stone

it was a peaceful morning walking with the dead.

i can see them from my window.

  today, in the soft october light they beckoned.

mighty yellow leaves and the blue sky of dreams

sheltered and lit their sorrows.

there must have been sorrows.

ruth, wife of henry, you left days before 49.

grace and arthur~

you barely skimmed the surface;

do you remember this earth?

and fannie.

you came and went in 17 months.

your sister after you in 34 months.

your brother after her in 16 months.

how did your mother survive?

but, fannie, that was 146 years ago.

i hope you came again and lived a full life.

i hope you walked with yellow leaves and stone.

i hope you found out for yourself

that amid the small tragedies of living 

the blue sky of dreams is shelter and wildness at once.