this is the passion of leaving—the calm, inner—
there are no goodbyes, just freedom
I do not hear music other than the wind—I do not hear
God’s owl—
my life un-draws itself
less
dumb—the ash leaf is
my skeleton—
who is there—one finds no one, not God, not relative—and yet everywhere
the door, the stain of day, the barge-like movement of a cloud
Christine Garren is the author of the poetry collections Afterworld and Among the Monarchs. Her latest collection is The Piercing, published in 2006 in the Southern Messenger Poets series from Louisiana State University Press. A Los Angeles Times Book Award finalist and NEA Fellowship recipient, she was born in Philadelphia and has lived in Greensboro, North Carolina, since 1979.