The Last Season

If death comes to me slowly, then know this:

I would like to die under a late autumn sun

With the wind in the trees

Stirring the last dry leaves

With geese leaving overhead

And a loon on a pond facing into the wind

And a few brave crickets still making music in the grass.

Lay me down in the field,

Feet facing the western sun.

When it sets behind the hills

So too will my own

Until I cross over and awake anew

To a thousand thousand bright suns.

Leave my body there

To feed raven and beetle;

Why should I not bless them too?

I would like to die on the open deck of a fine sloop

Smooth teak baked hot in the salt summer air;

Gently rocking, mast lines knocking

Clinking like ice in drinks

In the hands of lovely friends:

Men in Cape Breton red, crisp white, and navy blue

Pastel flowered women, tanned.

Lay me down on plank and caulk

Feet facing the ebbing tide

When it flows out from harbor to wild sea

So too will I.

Leave my body there

To feed fish and gull.

Why should I not bless them too?

I would like to die in the forest in spring

Under a bower of new green leaves

And a varied thrush’s liquid song

And the dripping rain

Vanishing into the silent moss.

Curl me there as an old dog lies

Nose beneath tail, body heaving one last deep sigh.

Lay me beneath a tall tree

Feet facing the furrowed bark

And whenever the sap rises so will I.

Leave my body there

To feed hungry bear and vole

Why should I not bless them too?

If I must die in winter then make it merry

With black-capped chickadees threading festal garlands in the pines

Waxy-red berries and bright green holly

Crisp blue-white snow like ironed sheets, like down.

Or send me fiercely with the whirling snow.

Drive me from this world with the gale

Until, on the other side, I land in a heap

At the very feet of the immense metallic stars.

Let the snow cover me.

Sled and ski and shout with joy over me,

And when in spring the earth warms

I will rush with all Creation toward the sea.

—Written during a walk with the dogs at Boulder Valley Farm, November, 17, 2015