incense

You don’t know this
But every time I light incense
I see the ghost of your hand 

Some moments never leave us

And this was the ritual in the fir grove under the great blue alps

We lit copal on a flat rock
At The edge of our blanket,
Belly down and legs all tangled

To say goodbye
To the soul that came and went last year
The news first reached you right here

for an hour I watched your hand balance resin on the burning coal
As It fell to ash and shrank,
Shepherding melting bubbles
On a narrowing bead of sun

There’s so much of you in this gesture
I witnessed only once -

How you kept with wordless care
The perfumed braids dancing
To the very last lick of flame