Farewell Summer

Tonight I sit vigil with a dying friend…

But first we celebrated her life

Lusty & raucous

children singing under the third night of the harvest moon

from a bright field

where I lay

in meditation

Parents cheering from the fire

beside the water’s edge

passing dark chocolate

like communion

hand to hand

around the

circle

Around the circle

we go

One more time

IF

we’re

lucky.

But not everyone

gets to ride.

Not the one with whom I sit tonight

and not the ones who passed

along with her either…

(The Eve of the Autumnal Equinox, 2013)