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Last night
He asked me to lay down beside him.
He held my head,
With both arms.

I was conscious of the weight
On his shoulder.
Of the bones
And frail.

Of his guitar nails
Tickling my shoulder
Like when I was a child.

I could hear his heartbeat
Unsteady.
Breath pausing for too long.
A slight movement made
So he'd inhale again.

Then he asked me
If I ever wondered about
Our minds being too closed...

I told him
Only when I think it's open.

The Truth About Life

Sometimes, your petals fall off.

Sometimes it's winter and
You search for water and green
But find a sea of white.

Sometimes you're the one cloud
Separate and lagging
Behind the rest racing for
An endless blue above the ocean.

Sometimes a smile
And a hand-hold
Mean the whole world.

Sometimes you need your kid
To read you Rumi.
To sit with you quietly
While you cry on the inside.

Until you wake up in the deepest breath,
The clarity that makes no sense
In all this fear of life and death,

We're blessed to be here.