POEM: Blue Flame

There then goes the vascular flame,

A flame that carries heat & light.

There then goes a claim to this life.

There then goes gravity that once

fixed objects  to this earth, but
now repels each thing from the other.

There then goes blood & DNA

& the bruised secrets of loneli
ness, of Coumadin-induced ghosts

standing in white hospital rooms,

of cousins long deceased, speaking
in spectral whispers.   There then go

the dusky eyes, the easy smile,

what remains of our father’s voice.
There then goes what we imagined about his hands.

Then goes the blue flame that released us

with the warmth of the friction created
by fingers releasing a sisal

rope, one by one, until nothing

lasts, & everything is
cast away.