Though we were afraid
We stood
Though we trembled
We reached
Though we feared falling
We let go
Though you are far 
You caught me
Though you were struggling
You held on
Though we both felt we couldn’t
We did
And the light that bathed our rebirth
Was a mute white
And the song in our mouths
Was of gratitude
And my loved ones passed over
Clambored from their soil and Ash
As beautiful as children again
Clasping my empiness 
They claimed me anew
Standing on the bridge
One side darkness and dusk
Extinguisher of all I was
The other side golden 
You have been so missed they chorused
And at first I couldn’t bear the feeling
Surging in me like a hundred hands
But they held firm, did not let me run, did not excuse me
No death did not stop us
No life is not meant to be half lived
One foot peering over the edge
And when the bird
Red breasted and full
Flew into my room and cast his burning glow
I lifted from my expiry
I left there on the bed
My tears
My certainty of nothing
And light as a dream 
Flew outside
Feeling as if the very first
The pinch of fresh air
Brighten grey
Banish terror
Unplug disease
Renew hope
Lifting their hands to heaven
All those I thought lost
Remind me anew
You are so loved
Cone back to life
Cross the bridge
Watch isolation fade
As a dark ship will receed in fog
All was but a dream
This hand in yours
This family forsook
You are still standing
Even as landscape burned
Your strength found 
In the deep roots of a patient tree
Invulnerable to life’s petty whim
Endure and overhead
Watch the season turn on her slim ankle
And fill us with color
I have been waiting all this time
For permission to breathe deeply
And exhale 
Letting go of fear and the unknown
For those who are never lost
Keep us tethered to the living 
Even as they cross
To wonderment