Technically, I wrote my Day 8 entry for National Poetry Writing Month yesterday, so here is a poem I wrote today.

The smoke will rise in good time
leaving ash and fragments of bone
the proverbial trail of tears
a regret or two
and a reminder that everything ends

The light will give it shape
by which we’ll recognize the sign
the purpose for the silence
(for a moment or two)
and a reminder that even lightness has weight

The wind will give it direction
a destination
somewhere on the other side
a place to go home to
an answer to a lifelong riddle

When the fire goes out
the end has come
Tears will dry
the silence will fade back into noise
and we’ll set aside regrets and reminders

for a while…

(8 April 2016)