(To RL, a close friend, a fellow acolyte who takes his job seriously)

 

 

I didn't tell the clouds to wake me,

 

                               To your path I cannot stroll nor walk.

 

        To contemplate grief without sorrow -

 

                         The horrible news,

 

                  This Happiness' arrest,

 

                       'tis like a haze on a winter dawn,

 

                   Like a plane caught in a thunderstorm.

 

I do not know how a blaze,

 

                          Consumes a pendant of diamond.

 

         To lose someone dearly is to remember,

 

                  Each gem in its suspended connection.

 

                  And how you lost it; it is for nobody to blame

         

          No one but fate, that thing I loathe

 

                              And have lamented your mother well, I suppose

 

To think I have not wept enough,

 

                                       I hope you, whoever reads this, feels the same

 

          Like the clashing ripples on the stormy sea,

 

                                My tears, albeit nonexistent, lies in your thoughts, too.

 

                    I hope your faith grows stronger with every blow,

 

                          And every struggle, just remember

 

                               You didn't lose a diamond -

                             

                                           If you believe it's out there in the blue.