TBone

If you could see me,
kneeling to kiss
the rocks
on the promontory
where you paused
on our nightly walk,
head cocked
listening,
your entire being
leaning,
tuned
to darkness,
breathing softly,
lifting your head
to sniff the wind,
what I could not sense
in the looming night,
you would wonder at me.
Yearning,
waiting with you
for the wildness to come.
remembering
in summer
fireflies
hovered over you
there,
in the place
I always imagined,
letting you run
in your final days
to find the mystery
of where
you’d come from.
You would look at me
quizzically
then turn to the next thing
never judging.
Urged on
by the wildness in you.
And I would like to imagine
you leaving us that way,
turning back
to be sure
we were still with you
the way you
always did
in the woods.
I try to follow
each joyful,
painful step
into the dark
with you,
wherever it is
you have gone.
You wished so
not
to be alone.