Patio fire leaps and snaps
Moon slips through pecan trees
Islay whisky on the table
Cricket whispers

A few days past the hard tears
I held you tightly
Feeling the sad violence
The gasping the shaking

Now in cooling stillness
Tasting the smoke in our glasses
Together following the moon
Until it slides out of sight

(First published in Last Leaves Magazine #5 Fall 2022, “Growth” – thanks to the editors.)