rite of spring

these are days littered with losses
the absences seem more present
perhaps because we marked eighteen
months since my father-in-law died

now the news comes of others --
one who made me laugh and one who
reminded me God laughs, too
hard to navigate life without

hitting these pot-holes of the heart
even the ones we know are there
but we keep going keep going
while the wind sings a gospel song

and  calls me to the harmony
as the redbud offers its first bloom
with last fall’s leaves still scattered
over the dust from whence we came

Peace,
Milton