22/30: from silver to blue(for aunt anna)

tears carry the words
past weathered corneas
and morning turns from silver to blue
part of this heart
jump-started by instant coffee
soars on silence
breaking time
back to the last time
you held my hand

you were shorter than me
by a foot
but the loudest voice in the room
you cut through angst
as one can cut muscle from leg bones
teaching me that love is firm
but constant and easier
when we slice down to what matters
your voice ringing like calls to service

i never got to ottawa
though i did try
maybe that was why i cried
thinking i was one more promise possibly unkept
after you gave me so many
in one last clasp of hands
before you and the family went back north
with the wave of the leaves

but
these days
you teach me that real love doesn't leave
when mornings turn from silver to blue
and the blinking of the sun that warms
tells us never to forget you.