Like wildfire

You’d come in blazing.

Spreading your warm laugh all over the bar.

Engulfing, explosive,

Your faith in the moment

Enough to push anyone on.

And as we danced 

Around your pyre,

Our smiles burned bright through the night.

No joke left untold,

All the quips 

Bought and sold.

I hear you chuckle.

“Laughs are cheap, dude. I’m going for gasps.”

So when the taps ran dry,

And Great Scott said goodbye,

In the tiny hours of the morning,

We’d sit bent and 

Talk straight,

Til one of us

Let our eyelids rest.

I remember last winter,

You were so excited

About your new leopard print blanket,

Weighted heavy with comfort –

A perfect fortress.

Before you left in the spring

You stuffed it under your bed,

A sign that you were ready.

Ready to sleep with yourself.

Alone,

Not lonely.

I carry this blanket now,

Weighted heavy with memory.

I hold it and know –

Grief has no agenda

But strife pencilled you in.

We clustered in the waiting room,

Liminal until further notice.

While your small body

Began tearing at the seams.

Your soul was too big (it seemed).

I hear you chuckle in the distance.

“Buy me a drink, sing me a song,

Take me as I come

Cause I can’t stay long.”