You lived among the mesa and Pinon pine
against ever-sifting sunlight and sweet sadness
surrounded by a community of your making
all looking to your strength and generosity

At night you cried out with a coyote’s howl
and beat your chest as you would a native drum
until the rhythm resonated with your heartbeat
and carried you away

But I can still recall your quiet power
your eyes filled with tolerance and pain
your back that bore so many others’ sorrow
your hands moulding lives like a Pueblo pot

And I will always think of you with mercy
and feel the endless absence of your love
the weft and warp of unshakable devotion
woven into everything you touched

As long as I awaken in the morning
and lay my body down to rest at night
my heart will always hold you near with longing
and see you standing captured in my mourning
beside the sun-dried mountains of your home