by Winifred Rawlins
“All goes onward and outward—nothing collapses; And to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier. “
—Walt Whitman
It was entirely fitting
That you should slip suddenly out of our world
Between one breath and another.
For a space you dwelt here like a sojourning bird
Migrating from a distant country
Who carries with him an aura of otherness,
Of song-bursts and wing-colors strange to our
perceiving.
Wise yogi, devout monk, and Quaker prophet,
Gifted with fun and with the light touch
Of the pure in heart;
Child of the high plateau and wind-swept
immensities,
You could make your habitat in our urban deserts,
Wear the garb and stigma of prisoners,
A friend for all seasons and all conditions of the heart.
Now another dimension of Being has claimed you.
Hearing the far call of your life’s dear companion,
Like a bird winging swiftly over a winter landscape
In triumphant joy
You soared onward and outward.