As the Sun Burrows No. 26
Vigil No. 19
Bears carousel
Rat headed towards the sound of Bears coughing
There in the silver lit room
Possum was seated at the round table her white candle held high over its center
Bear coughed and shuddered
Barely there
Her fur was full and white
And as Rat watched
The room began to spin
Slowly at first
Possums light danced about, bringing her in and out of shadow
From white to black
And as the scenes spun
Bear was suddenly sitting there fat and healthy
Laughing
Then as a shadow passed over him, thin and pained, struggling and angry
Then big and fearsome and horrid
Then kind and gentle and lovely
Then silly and playful with a snout dripping with honey
he could then be seen sat there not quite thin or fat but anger and sternesss ruled his face
And then there he was again, dead or almost
A grey of the grave in his fur
Rat watched and was filled with the emotions of a lifetime
Kindness, unkindness
Worry, hate, love, passion, playfulness, joy, anger, hope, hopelessness….and rat wept
Wept with joy at one utterance and with bitter sorrow at another
And as the carousel of bears spun round
Through its whirling shifting effigies of his life and story
Flickers could be caught of white gloves holding a mirror
And reflected in that mirror
A white empty dish covering a face
And one who’s mouth was filled with fire
_~for K. Who I knew too briefly
Sigh:
Silence unfold