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She had been watching the miniscule
Rise and fall of his clavicle for hours
And when it stilled long, she knew life had left him

She who had solitarily cared for them all
During her lifetime in this one lone place
With good grace for each of them

He who had left her once long ago
Now bedridden after a slow decline
Surrounded by earthly presences

On this night lying under the Milky Way
Smelling the nearby sea
Only sound the Earth’s moan

She with a light kiss and a goodbye soft and low
He bound for some Cosmic Home
The souls of ancestors all aglow

Oh, when death comes to our doorstep
May it be as natural as caring and goodbye
And as fulfilling as a knowing kiss forever

This poem is inspired by my reading of Annie Dillard’s
novel “Maytree”

Herb Stone ©
here&now working poetry
May 2019

When you are outsiders like us
At the margins of the center
The search for true friends
And finding our niche is a challenge

The numbers are against us
Fewer folks more far afield
Often in excilic places
Off the beaten path we go

Often stumbling upon one another
In the dark, we know instantly
This is a soulmate who will never say to me
“Well words are tricky,” or “explain yourself”

No, no, no, meaning between true friends
Is quickly recognized as shared truth
We speak the same language of freedom
Without platitudes and  cultural biases

We want nothing more than to
Belong in being our most true selves
In authentic communities together
Trough radical grace, radical love, radical hope

Rumi said “Out beyond the ideas of
Wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field.
I’ll meet you there,” where our souls
Can lie in the tall grass, all together as One

Friends, it is  challenging
We are grateful to find one another
Let us share the responsibilities  of authentic being
Together, walking each other home

Herb Stone ©
here&now working poetry
May 2019