Lonely Leaf

  When an ancestor 

passes on for evermore 

something precious is lost.

   Slow memories flow:

        You hear voices 

        no one else hears

        and see him lying 

              concave in

    a decrepit arm chair. 

   All alone you're 

   in the stillness 

of the self -same room.

When lonely leaf of life 

flutters for the finish

       you too will

        leave behind 

       an empting chair.