
a friend from my past who i saw at a reunion
someone i used to laugh and play sports with
grimaced when i told him what i do
a chaplain in hospice, i said, when he asked me
and immediately he had no words
just this look of distaste so striking
as though i were some unclean israelite
who had brought death’s stench
into the holy place
i wish i’d had the imagination to tell him
that what i do is walk among the trees in fall
i stop, examine each luminescent leaf
and try to capture its essence
before its inevitable letting go
falling to the earth
feeding the ecosystem
bringing life to us all
I absolutely love this poem. There is indeed beauty in each life, and blessed is the one who can see and share that with others.
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