Should I Depart Early

Should I depart early

and should my absence be felt,

know this, dear feeling one:

there are steps to a place where I will yet always be.

(step one)

Drive by wide open water, roll a window down

and be stirred with the river

by the rufflesome wind.

(step two)

Play on your car speakers a good folk song,

with a lilting melody - the Parting Glass, perhaps,

Danny Boy, or Homeward Bound.

(step three)

Then find a seabird floating by,

here and there upon a great exhale,

and wonder what it's like to be borne along

by the world's breath.

(step four)

Think about the way that life could be, and

say a prayer, for whichever friend or stranger

first braves the borders of your mind.

(step five)

Sit in the waves of the melody,

and the tunes

of the dying wind -

in the mystery of the seabird

and the whispered prayer

on the dying wind.

(step six)

Then realize that I am there,

in that moment, with you, forever

in a way so much more and less

than if I were standing right beside.

Then take comfort, friend, for

should I depart early,

and should my absence be grieved,

know this, dear grieving one:

there are steps to a place where I will yet always be.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Thanks so much for stopping by to read my poem! While on its own a piece which I enjoyed crafting, this poem also serves as a reminder that there are still a few days left to enter my unofficial challenge. This poem is an example entry for the challenge, in fact! So if you're interested, I'd be honored and excited to see any additional entries before the challenge closes. :)