To Lina – Who Left Us Last Week

You and I have

spoken all these

words, but as for the

way

we have to go, words

are no preparation.

There is no getting

ready, other than

grace. My faults

have stayed hidden.

One might call that a

preparation!

I have one small drop

of knowing in my

soul. Let it dissolve

in your ocean.

There are so many

threats to it.

Inside each of us,

there’s continual

autumn. Our leaves

fall and are blown

out

over the water. A

crow sits in the blackened limbs and

talks about what’s gone.

Then

your generosity returns: spring,

moisture,

Intelligence, the

scent of hyacinth

and rose

and cypress. Joseph

Is back! And if you

don’t feel in

yourself the

freshness of

Joseph, be Jacob!

Weep and then

smile. Don’t pretend

to know

something you

haven’t experienced.

There’s a necessary

dying, and then

Jesus is breathing

again.

Very little grows on

jagged

rock. Be ground. Be

Crumbled, so

wildflowers will

come up

where you are.

You’ve been

stony for too many

years. Try something

different. Surrender.