We write the poems to record how each
cell’s nuclear pore will remember us
after water vanishes from earth. Reach
for your glass, sip slowly, recall chorus
of each happy song, texture of each true
kiss, and decide why we write the poems.
Your everlasting gaze, ever-knowing
smile is why I write this poem: Phloem
of the lily knows your breath. Your going
reminds me of this. Your returning through
gardens of startled flowers, their flowing
veins vulnerable to your brief passing,
their petal throngs, sunlight flooding through them
and us -- tells
you why I write this poem.
Roger Armbrust
October 8, 2015
