Eulogy for a Friend

         for Robert

Unannounced

I gave your eulogy today

out in the bramble

picking the smallest

fucking berries on earth. 

From a wire,

the robins stopped preening

to listen while 

I told them about

the man you are,

the man I love like a brother,

the one who holds out

nets for others,

arms as wide as oceans,

spirit knit from wind,

a soul unfettered by tumult.

I sang your name

and let it hang in the branches

like gossamer and light,

the same way you shine for so many.

Soon enough the squirrels and

rabbits came around to listen too,

then a deer and her spotted fawns,

each one rapt as I painted you

with my best words and

those prized recollections

when you taught me

how full a life could be.

And of course,

I knew it was your special day,

the anniversary that brought you us,

which is why I wanted

to celebrate you while living,

in front of nature’s bounty,

where even if you couldn’t hear me,

everyone else would,

and thus, learn what a

treasure you are,

and always will be.