When finally I’ve gone to ashes,
take these extensions of mind,
clues to what mattered in the moment:

Books,
holding in margins inked notes,
repartee with authors.

Diaries,
volumes of events, how they felt,
reports of the journey to now.

Files,
photos of friends long dead,
saved letters for no one to read.

Leftovers,
let them go,
let them burn:
offerings to the universe
whence they came.

Tom Keene
October 16, 2015