Why didn't I hug you harder,
visit more, stay longer,
let my hand linger in yours?
Why didn’t we sit side by side
every chance we had?
We watched and it wasn’t a movie and
none of us could leave.
Something was lost.
I go to the earth,
to ground,
to lay down,
place down
all the things I cannot carry.
I gather fallen limbs,
handle lichened bones
with reverence,
returning them
to the base of their tree.
Today the world is too big
and me, too small in it.
The people, too many,
the problems, too complex…