Hey! Wait!

I wasn’t finished talking to you!

I haven’t heard enough, yet
of what you thought in school

Of how you loved Jesus
I haven’t heard enough of
What you loved the most about living
in the country

Of why you left the city
Or stories of your father,
Your mother, your sister and
Those cousins of yours

I wasn’t finished listening to you
Talk about Black Lives Matter and
The Marches in DC
I hadn’t heard enough

About your Karaoke singing
If you’d found a place to do that out there
Or if you came back to town to see your friends

We were supposed to go have fried chicken again
And talk about growing up in the South

I hadn’t heard enough about
Moving through this world as

A big, Black man,
Gentle as Jesus,
Pained by all the fear
Pre-judged and thrown at you
All your live long days.

I wasn’t done hearing you
Share your wisdom and insight
Your awe at life & spirit & living

The sweetness and joy
You were soaking up from the
Trees and the meadows
Where you were living now.

Then. I mean then.

Past tense.

Passed. Tense.

You moved on,
In the still of the night,
Without telling anyone

Maybe without a sound.
I’ll never know.

Congratulations, of course,

For moving On,
Back to the Infinite that is
Our Nature.

I’m sure you’re loving seeing your father
And all the ancestors
From your biological line.

I’m sure you’re loving rejoining
With the infinite parts of you that
The story of Here on Earth
Forbids.

That’s all very well and good,
And I am happy for you, truly.

But I wasn’t done being friends
In-body friends

I hadn’t heard enough, yet, of

What you loved the most about living.

.

For my friend Calvin, who recently died.

I don’t wish him to Rest In Peace — I wish him to party long, as he was a singing, dancing, joyful spirit, full of love.

May his love & joy party long, full of endless ease.

Delia A Yeager
February 6, 2021