I did not weep today

When you flew away

After bringing

Your young cats

Home to my house

And spending

Three precious days

Sharing

With me

Not profundities

But little things

Kitty coddling

Endless movies

Cooking and laughing.

After those days ended

And your dear image Vanished behind

The revolving glass

Then, when my bliss

Should have fled,

I refused to let it go.

 

Instead

I kept you with me.

All the way home

I carried you

In my heart

And you are still

Right here,

Alive and real

And sweet as Honeydew.

Because

This I promise

This I swear

And only this

Is true:

The essence

Of you

Is in me

And the essence

Of me

Is in you.

 

That is why

No matter how

Things appear

Parting

Is illusion

And even Death

Nothing

To fear.

His trickster’s knees

Go wobbly

And he slips

Like a shadow away

In the Light

Of this

Round and Shining Day.

And only now

That I have told you

This

Only now

Am I weeping.

 

To my son – after saying goodbye

Trudi Lee Richards

Trudi Lee Richards, a poet-bard of Silo’s Message, is the author of "Confessions of Olivia"; "On Wings of Intent, a biography of Silo"; "Soft Brushes with Death"; and "Experiences on the Threshold." Exactly two of her poems have ever been published: "Fairies of the Forest," which appeared in the Palo Alto Times "Youth Said It" column in 1957, and "The Great 21st Century Poemic," which appeared in the April 2021 edition of Global Poemic (globalpoemic.wordpress.com). She also edited and published the independent San Francisco newspaper "Human Future" from 1989-1997, and before that co-founded "La Mamelle," a '70s San Francisco arts publication. A graduate of Stanford University, she helped raise several humans from infancy, and is now enjoying their friendship. She currently lives in Portland, Oregon.