For Stu, who is still alive
You have made a circle
of your dying,
an intricate web
spun on the frail thread
of your fading organs,
strengthened
with wit and will
to catch each passing moment
each heart
that comes in close to yours.
Death is a carnivorous business.
So is love.
And you draw us in
to feed
on stories
on memories
a voice, a touch
a turn of phrase,
everything you can pack
for a solo journey
to an uncertain destination
everything you can leave
to sustain us
when you’re gone.
In this web you have
spun, this circle,
which extends
in elaborate patterns
across miles and years,
we feast on
one another.
Starving, loving,
in holy, heart-filled
hunger,
we feast.
© Deborah Edler Brown 2014
Image courtesy of Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Deborah Edler Brown 
This is heartbreaking. And hopeful
Lovely