1.

She said, Your heart is like the wind;

never feel it’s being used up by love.

There is always more, and more, 

And, at the end of it all, there is more.

Maybe, it’s like the stars, I said.

2.

Wander the roads of your happiness,

She said, With no purpose,

Except to wander the roads.

In silence, I watched her walk away,

Wondering where she would go.

3.

When winter is deepest, we long

For the warm days of spring–

the birds, the buds, the piercing of snow.

Yet, the warm days are inside us

like love, waiting to be resurrected with joy.

4.

Remember the years we couldn’t see

the mountains, obscured with smoke?

That’s what it will feel like,

when I’m no longer here, she said.

The mountains were still there, I said.

5.

Only you can answer the question,

for we’re alone in our decisions;

Can the aspen advise the crocus?

You and I are that different, she said.

Yet, their roots are intertwined, I said.

6.

Fear rises up inside us, she said,

But love can go clear to the bone;

Take it as close as you can, without breaking. 

Maybe it’s okay to break, I said,

After all, a bone will yearn to heal.

7.

There is only joy in love, she said.

But what about grief, I asked,

The grief that feels like stone?

That’s fear, she said, when you think

love is gone. Love is never gone.

8.

She said, All answers are paths,

and the paths are infinite;

every yes, and every no.

I took a path to you, I said,

And even the atoms changed.