crematorium 

you looked asleep
i imagined you
resting after the tall day.
after the last time you laughed
while the sun ribboned dusk
into streaks of flame

after the black sky
swaddled you, blanketing you
in stars while you lay
silently on the ground,
fingers of grass stroking your arms,
the night shadows grown long.

i pictured you
reviewing your day,
saying your longing prayers,
taking your medication,
and waiting for peace,
before you closed your eyes
and finally went to sleep.

in the end, before the fires burned
the shell you left behind
i mama-kissed your brow
now gone cold.

i wouldn’t eat or drink
once i got home
not while the chill
of your forehead
lingered on my lips.