Light to gaze upon the shadows

It was in that long, bold summer of '97
when your memory stretched on into autumn
with that late reprise that blazed from late September to Halloween
as if you did you not want to leave us to the throes of winter with your passing
and we did not want to let you go

We stood there on the rocks
where waves had once lapped your footprints
wet feet, warm tears, cold comfort
as we spoke the words that let your ashes on their way

And as the nights' encircling grip around the days
closed in on us from east and west
a small light still flickered in the shade you left behind
You gave us light to gaze upon these shadows now,
days too soon in ending, dark too slow to pass
There is blossom in the blackness, there are seedlings in the grass