Excerpt from The Parting

I glanced back as we left.
Looking past you, I saw the table,
Center candle still glowing, spreading yellow fingers out to empty glasses,
Two chairs pushed back, their arms outstretched

And vacant.

I ponder what there is in parting.
We say good-bye; I watch you go.
We are two worlds, yet somewhere deep inside me a flame erupts
And spreads its fingers out to link us still.

– From “Piper’s Song, A Book of Poems”