Eulogy for My Aunt

We travel this life path here to there
Soaked from the winter’s chill
As midnight rushes in quiet and still
We are often caught unaware.
Never knowing what will come our way
Nor what cross we will bear.
What love we will hold dear
When we’ve come to the end of our stay.
But the crocus peaking through
February’s crusted snow
Reminds me of you
And all of winter that we know.

Puddles rippled in the rain
With every living drop
Realizing in the empty cold
At your last breath, your pain will stop.

And without you we will roam
Your whisper in every tree
While we weather on the lee
Aware that we never walk alone.