Another birthday

Ahhhh another birthday. 

I've had many but beg

for more despite 

the gruesome 

consequences.  

Oh Universe, let my glow fade 

as slowly as the coil 

inside a burned-out bulb.  

My friend fought death with every weapon.  

Every full moon egged her on 

but she vanished anyway.  

Death as much a miracle as life. 

Is it not confusing 

to see thin air where 

your friend stirred the soup 

and poured it steaming 

into bowls, one for you, 

one for her?

Savory soup 

over which you chatted 

with the leisure of Redwood trees 

that will flower in their fairy ring

2000 more years.  

As if our presence had roots 

that stabilize the world 

we stand on. 

My dear man's laugh 

still hangs in that same thin air.  

The echo fading not by seconds 

but by years. 

Is it not a miracle that a mind pulsing 

with wit and song will cease? 

Because chemistry always 

comes undone, because rain 

sweeps away the soil

silt by silt until 

just the stones below remain.