for Shan Goshorn, December 3, 2018

This is the first morning we are without you on earth.
The sun greeted us after a week of rain
In your eastern green and mountain homelands.
Plants are fed, the river restored, and you have been woven
Into a path of embracing stars of all colors
Now free of the suffering that shapes us here.
We all learned to let go, like learning how to walk
When we first arrive here. 
All those you thought you lost now circle you
And you are free of pain and heartbreak. 
Don’t look back, keep going.
We will carry your memory here, until we join you
In just a little while, in one blink of star time.