On the night we squeezed hands to say goodbye
the heavens were bruised so deeply
that I thought they wouldn’t heal.
Such a sky I shall never witness again.
The violet whispered of our memories.
The cornflower blue whispered of our sadness.
The indigo whispered of our fears.
The tangerine whispered of our hopes.
The coral whispered of our regrets.
The copper whispered of our pain,
and in those fretful moments before you
flew away into the blinding blackness
the scarlet wept in ecstasy of our love.
Our life, our sweetness, and our hope
do you now walk beneath that faithless sky?
And is there anyone more sorrowful than I?

I have never forgotten how the sky looked as my mother was slipping
away from us.  To witness such brilliance in a time of great loss and sadness
is a gift.