I am a collective
an ongoing collaboration
a group enterprise
I revel in my diversity
sit in its lap
while being carefully groomed
Nothing becomes me
like agreement among friends
Nothing fills my sails
like the wind of good company
When all my words
are stilled
when every breath is drawn
then you might come near
When every tale is told
and when myth
becomes gossip among friends
then
and only then
will I willingly depart.
That's the day,
friends,
when we all meet
on that distant shore,
when sweetness dissolves
into the dark.
I have one foot
in the beyond already.
My ticket is punched
my resolve unmatched.
Give me your hand, my friend,
in good cheer
for nothing now will leave us bereft.
Never yet alone
never yet divorced from grace.
Amen.
Dedicated to my distant friend Pradip Chattopadhyay who called me back from the near-death of my poetic impulse.