Ashes Denote: A Fallen Tree Limb

As big as a tree itself

you let it fall

crashing to the ground

wrecking the swing-set below

destroying a toddler-painted birdhouse in the wake

you let it fall

at 1 o’clock in the afternoon

a sunny day

a day when the kids should’ve been wont to play

no storm, no wind

just rot

and a heaviness you could no longer carry

so

you let it fall

hundreds of leaves and all

injuring a friend

who held too close proximity

a limb for a limb

you let it fall

and I heard the crack

and ran outside

no living soul to find

beneath the weight of your loss

just metal

bending the broken elbow to signify an end

you let it fall

and listened to the whirring of the machine

that tore apart

each part of your brokenness

and piled every piece of overbearing debris

to lay to rest behind the shed

for a while

because

you let it fall

and then you watched

the laborious act of the axe

rising up, battling gravity

to give in to the force of nature that sends

the head of steel cracking down

to splinter and split

your broken pieces further in two

in four

you let it fall

because it tarried on your waste

it now is sent to waist

cut off from your source of life

forever

knowing you would feed it no longer

while knowing it would feed the fire

before long

you let it fall

and we carried all of your heaviness

piece by piece

to the flames

and threw them in the fire to consume

and ignite the memories of your being

a living, breathing, extension of life

of what once was

no longer is

as it breathes it’s final breath

blowing floating ashes to the sky

and settling itself into the ground below

you let the ashes fall

into dust

and said goodbye.