I’ve been contemplating Death
And she’s been contemplating me.
We sit across the table from one another
Our motions mirrored
One matched to the other.

This is not death as I imagined her – she’s soft
And her billowing cloak is light as mist,
Gray and velvety under my hand.
We’ve been keeping company, she and I
Sipping our tea and eating our bread.

She’s not the ravenous monster I thought her to be
As I’ve known her to be in the past --
Red and black and shiny
But gray and supple as a mother’s breast
Enveloping me in a stillness and a silence
That is indeed otherworldly.

She’s not here for me right now,
She has just come calling for a moment
Building ritual, that is what we are doing
Adding to the dance that all eventually dance
Watching the candle as it burns away.

Around her light hovers in the air, gathering into itself
Particles that halt in motion but
Never fade. She is silent as doves on wing
She is gentle with me. Her breath is as that of God
And she knows of love. And I speak to her of that Light
That Love. Of Life. And she whispers eternity in my ear.
And we weep and we sigh a gentle prayer.

After we stare out the window
We sip our tea in silence
And I hold her hand.