Passaway
deep sorrow for his passaway
………….. sorry we lost he
after your passaway
…………. I give you river,
…………. cloud reflected in river
You give back river
………… you give back cloud
sorry we lost he
I give you whirling dervish of house,
…………….half-mile of heron
You give them back,
………. you are passaway
I give you memory
………. of our weekdays and weekends
……………. and all the days in between
You give them back
……….. with or without sorrow
…………… I can’t tell
sorry we lost he
I give you hodgepodge of spiders,
………… Love’s dagger-proof coat,
…………………. myself when young
I give you river and cloud,
…………. you return them, unused,
………………….. don’t need them
…………. you are passaway
by Penelope Shuttle
from The Rialto, No. 65, Summer 2008