For Maureen (On Hearing of Her Mother's Death)

Death simply bubbles up
out of the silence
like groundwater after hard rain,
benediction, blessing,
and not at the time what it seems.

Life ends in pain,
hence, caring must be given early.
There is no duration
that outlasts the memory of pain.

We are overcome
when caught in life/death contradictions;
nor is it wrong
to cry
and be confused in reaction.

I began to cry this morning when I saw a young boy,
but it wasn't sadness.
He had such joy!

Someday, may I
make myself available to beauty
without asking why.