For Madeleine

That star beat out all the others tonight

   In arrival and brightness

I don’t know what’s more exquisite –

    Its mirrory-white keyhole into heaven

    Or the hushed blue vapor of dusk behind it.

This evening, for a change, I’m not pleading upon the star,

  Only gazing…

It follows me as I walk, hiding

   and re-appearing between the houses

And if it goes out of sight, it’s okay -

   I know I’ll see it at the same time tomorrow

Yet I won’t see you tomorrow or ever,

You won’t re-emerge from behind a tree

   No more hearing your breathing voice,

You, unbelievably, have slipped through

    that silver-white keyhole

We see all that surrounded you –

 Your desk, handwritten papers,

 your purse, bracelets, your lipstick

   which once kissed your warm mouth –

We see everything but you –

   However, I know you’re all right…

The radiant spines of the star - your hair,

The lustrous glow - the Indian Kurti you wore

The glittering - your passage…

Two diamond grains

   falling back to earth

      as your beloved progeny

Please bless the loved ones still on this earth,

With frail bodies riding on faulty airplanes,

   You are in a sanctified place

Pray for us mortals,

trying to forstall the inevitable,

trying to hang on.

-rc