Witness

In this room of hush and 

Holy, Holy, Holy

A life winds down

Wait. Breathe. Wait.

Quiet, the murmur of 

Voice in the next room

Wait. Breathe. Wait.

Witness to unspeakable 

Beauty

I am blessed to see

Her skin translucent clarity

Scaffolding of bone

More apparent than ever

Her breath, it rises and falls

As daughter 

Become midwife

To this tender end

Labors with tiny kisses

And gentlest caress

As mother had given

To infant daughter

Wait. Breathe. Wait.

Her body, true and faithful

To the end

This very end

Wait. Breathe. Wait.

Wrapped in deep peace

Peace, like a river

Like her life

Running through

The expectant hush of 

Christmas Eve long after

The guests have gone

Wait. Breathe. Wait.

DNA of all who came

Before her and the 

Traces of children

Whom she bore

Written, witnessed, locked

In the fleshy tables

Her slowing heart

Wait. Wait. Wait.

For my cousin as she

waits upon my beloved Aunt P

The evening before her

death at 3:47 am.