Ashes are Bone and Dust

Jill Battson

When the bone fragments arc to earth
the wind picks up the dust from the ashes
before they settle to the ground
separating them on the wing
and blows the dust out off the summit of the hill
across the countryside
     it is then the magic happens
as the wind has along its body
particles of the dust
a cloud that forms and reforms
moving out over the land in a mobile body
as if the two spirits are truly joining
contemplating each other for a moment
rolling and swirling and forming
in a comfortable courtship of familiarity
moving more slowly than the wind
a heavy mass suspended but traveling out
over the leaden quality of the stillness of Wiltshire
I fully expect their two figures to become visible
and smile down on me before melting
on the cradle of the wind.

Poem 1 | Poem 2 | Poem 3 | Poem 4 | Poem 5

Jill Battson's works copyright © to the author.